Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p13d..07b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P13D-07
Mathematics
Logic
5480 Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450), 6024 Interiors (8147), 6280 Saturnian Satellites
Scientific paper
Enceladus' south polar region has a large heat flux that is spatially associated with cryovolcanic and tectonic activity. Tidal dissipation and vigorous convection in the underlying ice shell are possible sources of heat, however, prior predictions of the heat flux carried by stagnant lid convection are too low to explain the observed heat flux. The high heat flux and cryovolcanic/tectonic activity in the region suggest that near- surface ice has become rheologically and mechanically weakened enough to permit convective plumes to reach close to the surface. If the yield strength of Enceladus' lithosphere is less than 1 to 10 kPa, convection may occur in the "mobile" lid regime, characterized by large heat fluxes and large horizontal velocities in the near-surface ice. Ice shells convecting in this regime of behavior have heat fluxes comparable to that observed by CIRS. If this style of convection is occurring, the south polar terrain should be spreading horizontally with v ~ 1 to 10 mm yr-1 and should be resurfaced in 0.1 to 10 Myr. This estimated age is comparable to age estimates of 0.5 Myr based on crater counts from Cassini imaging. Maxwell viscoelastic tidal dissipation in such an ice shell is not capable of generating enough heat to balance convective heat transport. Tidal heat is likely generated in the near-surface along faults as suggested by Nimmo et al., Nature, (2007). It is also possible that tidal dissipation within the ice shell occurs by other processes not accounted for by the canonical Maxwell dissipation model.
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