From Young to Older Disks: JWST/MIRI Evidence for Fading Molecular Emission and Hints for Elevated C/O in Upper Scorpius

We present JWST/MIRI spectroscopy of 14 disks in the older (∼5–10 Myr) Upper Scorpius (USco) association and use slab of gas in local thermal equilibrium to infer basic gas properties. We find that one-half of these disks are molecular rich, with detections of H 2 O, CO 2 , HCN, C 2 H 2 , and H 2 , while the other one-half are molecular poor, showing no molecular emission other than H 2 . We further combine this sample with 10 other USco disks from the AGE-PRO program and compare the combined older sample to young (∼1–3 Myr) JDISCS Cycle 1 systems, which are analyzed in a similar manner. We find that USco disks have lower detection rates of major molecular species but a significantly higher detection rate of rarer C-bearing molecules such as C 4 H 2 . At a given accretion luminosity, molecular line luminosities are systematically lower in USco than in young disks, and the scaling relations with accretion luminosity differ between the two populations. Moreover, we find that about one-half of the older disks, preferentially the millimeter-faint and likely more compact disks, have observable mass ratios of C- to O-bearing molecules that are higher than the maximum values in the young sample. These results point to reduced inner-disk molecular gas masses, cooler emitting layers, and higher inner gas C/O ratios in older disks, the latter being consistent with pebble drift. Taken together, our findings provide evidence for chemical evolution of inner-disk gas from young to older systems, with important implications for the accretion of primordial planetary atmospheres.