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Suppose that Super-Earth class planet exists where there is a hundred-kilometer-deep ocean of deuterium oxide.

If a sufficiently powerful thermonuclear bomb was detonated in depths of this ocean, could thermonuclear fusion of around material be triggered? Would such runaway thermonuclear fusion spread far enough to overwhelm entire world and turn it into plasma?

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    $\begingroup$ See Wikipedia's article on fusion. "D-D fusion" (two deuterium atoms joining up) actually costs energy rather than producing it. You'll need a lot of tritium in your set-up if you want a question with a fun answer. But I mean by then you're practically making the planet as a bomb to begin with - probably has some flag logo on the side of it telling you who it's blowing up the stellar neighborhood on behalf of. $\endgroup$
    – Mike Serfas
    Commented Sep 2 at 16:49
  • $\begingroup$ you want D-T fusion anyway, +17.6 MeV per fusion, 14.1 of it in a kinetic neutron travelling at 1/6th c $\endgroup$
    – Trish
    Commented Sep 2 at 22:22
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    $\begingroup$ Pretty sure the point where runaway fusion occurs, words like "planet" and "ocean" would be meaningless, and be replaced with words like "gas giant", and "proto-star"... Not to mention, "runaway fusion" would be "ignition" of a "star". $\endgroup$
    – Aron
    Commented Sep 3 at 10:26
  • $\begingroup$ Hans Dominik, I think, had a similar idea, and then Oppenheimer... $\endgroup$
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Sep 3 at 14:37
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    $\begingroup$ I suppose a Super-Earth that makes fusion possible would conspicuously resemble the Sun ;-). $\endgroup$
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Sep 3 at 14:38

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Fusion bombs are activated by focusing the shock-wave produced by a fission bomb to strongly compress the suitable nuclei.

To achieve the desired compression the shock wave must converge into a smaller volume, while an uncontained explosion, be it nuclear or chemical, will tend to be divergent and will therefore not achieve the desired effect.

The answer to your question is no.

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    $\begingroup$ worse, they also need the neutron flux and gamma energy of the fission trigger to provide additional energy. $\endgroup$
    – jwenting
    Commented Sep 3 at 7:20

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