What Is the Difference Between Thick & Thin Atmospheres?

Atmosphere and Gravity

• In general, the weaker the gravitational pull of a planet, the thinner the atmosphere will be. A planet with weak gravity will tend to have less mass and allow more atmosphere to escape into space. Thus the thickness or thinness of the atmosphere depends upon the strength or weakness of gravity. For example, the gravity on Jupiter is 318 times greater than Earth, and thus Jupiter's atmosphere is much thicker than Earth's. Gravity gets weaker the further away it is from a planet, so the atmosphere will be thicker near the surface.

Atmosphere and Temperature

• Temperature plays a key role in determining the thickness of an atmosphere. Hot temperatures will often cause a thinner atmosphere as warm air molecules will move faster and reach an escape velocity into space. On Earth, temperatures decrease with elevation within the troposphere, the lowest level of the atmosphere, as the warmer molecules are escaping into the upper atmosphere. Temperatures, however, stabilize at higher atmospheric levels such as in the stratosphere.

Atmospheric Density

• Seventy-five percent of the mass of the Earth̵7;s atmosphere is in the troposphere, and thus the troposphere is referred to as ̶0;thick̶1; while higher layers are called ̶0;thin.̶1; Atmospheres are designated as thick or thin depending upon planetary mass, gas density and the type of gases that are present, not simply the total depth of the atmosphere. The more dense the gases are, the more "thick" the atmosphere.

Thick Atmospheres

• The type of gases present are as critical to density as elevation and gravity, and all are interrelated. Certain atmospheric gases will create thick atmospheres. For example, atmospheres with abundant hydrogen tend to be thicker as gases will combine with hydrogen for greater mass. Some planets, such as Venus, have very thick atmospheres largely composed of carbon dioxide and cannot support life. The outer planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune also have very thick atmospheres, but they consist of gases such as hydrogen, helium, methane and ammonia.

Thin Atmospheres

• The Earth̵7;s atmosphere is considered relatively thin, and it gets thinner further away from the planet̵7;s surface. Thin atmospheres are characterized by their relative lack of hydrogen. Ninety-nine percent of the Earth̵7;s atmosphere is composed of life-supporting oxygen and nitrogen, and 98 percent of these gases are in the lower 30 kilometers (19 miles) of the atmosphere due to gravity. Another celestial body, Europa, a moon of Jupiter, likewise has a thin atmosphere with abundant oxygen, and some believe that life is possible on this moon. Mars also has a thin atmosphere with little mass, 100 times thinner than Earth's. Mars' atmosphere mostly consists of carbon dioxide and is not conducive for life.