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In an atmosphere, a cloud condensation region is characterized by a strongvertical gradient in the abundance of the related condensing species. On Earth,the ensuing gradient of mean molecular weight has relatively few dynamicalconsequences because N$_2$ is heavier than water vapor, so that only therelease of latent heat significantly impacts convection. On the contrary, in anhydrogen dominated atmosphere (e.g. giant planets), all condensing species aresignificantly heavier than the background gas. This can stabilize theatmosphere against convection near a cloud deck if the enrichment in the givenspecies exceeds a critical threshold. This raises two questions. What istransporting energy in such a stabilized layer, and how affected can thethermal profile of giant planets be? To answer these questions, we first carryout a linear analysis of the convective and double-diffusive instabilities in acondensable medium showing that an efficient condensation can suppressdouble-diffusive convection. This suggests that a stable radiative layer canform near a cloud condensation level, leading to an increase in the temperatureof the deep adiabat. Then, we investigate the impact of the condensation of themost abundant species---water---with a steady-state atmosphere model. Comparedto standard models, the temperature increase can reach several hundred degreesat the quenching depth of key chemical tracers. Overall, this effect could havemany implications for our understanding of the dynamical and chemical state ofthe atmosphere of giant planets, for their future observations (with Juno forexample), and for their internal evolution.

astronomy and astrophysics

Condensation-inhibited convection in hydrogen-rich atmospheres:  Stability against double-diffusive processes and thermal profiles for  Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune