Excess C/H in Protoplanetary Disk Gas from Icy Pebble Drift Across the CO Snowline

The atmospheric composition of giant planets carries the information of their formation history. Superstellar C/H ratios are seen in atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn, and various giant exoplanets. Also, giant exoplanets show a wide range of C/O ratio. To explain these ratios, one hypothesis is that protoplanets accrete carbon-enriched gas when a large number of icy pebbles drift across the CO snowline. Here we report the first direct evidence of an elevated C/H ratio in disk gas. We use two thermo-chemical codes to model the 13C18O, C17O, and C18O (2−1) line spectra of the HD 163296 disk. We show that the gas inside the CO snowline (∼70 au) has a C/H ratio that is 1–2 times higher than the stellar value. This ratio exceeds the expected value substantially, as only 25%–60% of the carbon should be in gas at these radii. Although we cannot rule out the case of a normal C/H ratio inside 70 au, the most probable solution is an elevated C/H ratio that is 2–8 times higher than the expectation. Our model also shows that the gas outside 70 au has a C/H ratio that is 0.1× the stellar value. This picture of enriched C/H gas at the inner region and depleted gas at the outer region is consistent with numerical simulations of icy pebble growth and drift in protoplanetary disks. Our results demonstrate that the large-scale drift of icy pebble can occur in disks and may significantly change the disk gas composition for planet formation.