paper

Chemical Divergence and Water Depletion: Gas Properties of Evolved Upper Scorpius Disks Revealed by JWST/MIRI

arXiv:2606.27476

Abstract

Tracing the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks over time requires observations of disks at different ages. However, most JWST/MIRI surveys published to date have targeted younger ( $\sim$ 1-3 Myr) rather than older systems. We present the results of a JWST/MIRI MRS survey of the inner regions of 10 protoplanetary disks (ages $\sim$ 2-6 Myr, spectral types M0-M4.5) in the Upper Scorpius region previously characterized by the ALMA AGE-PRO large program. Using MCMC slab modeling, we fit to a wide variety of detected molecules, including H $_{2}$ O, CO, C $_{2}$ H $_{2}$ , $^{13}$ CCH $_{2}$ , HCN, HC $_{3}$ N, CO $_{2}$ , $^{13}$ CO $_{2}$ , C $_{2}$ H $_{6}$ , C $_{4}$ H $_{2}$ , and OH, as well as C $_{6}$ H $_{6}$ , CH $_{3}$ , and H $_{2}$ visually. We classify each disk along two independent axes-a Water Classification based on H $_{2}$ O line luminosity (Water-Rich, Water-Poor, or Water-Absent) and a Chemotype based on the dominant non-water chemistry (Organic-Rich, CO $_{2}$ -Dominated, or Molecule-Absent)-and find an unexpectedly high diversity of distinct chemical compositions within our population. We leverage the heterogeneity of detected molecules in our sample to present new characteristic "diagnostic" wavelength regions for most species. We find that carbon-based molecules consistently exhibit markedly lower excitation temperatures ( $≲$ 300 K) compared to younger ( $\sim$ 1-3 Myr) star-forming regions ( $\sim$ 600-1000 K), hinting at relatively colder molecular reservoirs. We also determine that Upper Scorpius disks show systematically lower water luminosities by factors of 10-1000. In particular, disks with strong carbon-based molecular features but no observed H $_{2}$ O defy expectations of an inner-disk dust cavity or a low ( $≲ 3$ ) $R_{gas} / R_{dust}$ ratio, instead suggesting that the presence of a strong outer-disk dust trap largely controls the chemical outcome of the terrestrial planet-forming region.

This paper is currently under revision. Any and all comments are welcome