Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.1703h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #17.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.417
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Enceladus' south polar region exhibits a diversity of heavily tectonized terrains, including a complex assortment of ridges, grooves, graben, and rifts. The surface temperature and heat flux are strongly elevated along the tiger stripes. It has been suggested that the source for Enceladus' tectonic activity is convection/diapirism in the ice shell coupled with tidal dissipation. Several groups have shown that convection may occur in Enceladus' interior. However, these models did not represent brittle deformation near the surface of the ice shell and shear heating along the tiger stripes in a realistic way. We present numerical simulations of thermal convection in Enceladus' ice shell to understand the formation of the south polar tectonics. We perform our simulations using the finite element codes ConMan in 2D Cartesian and CitcomS in 3D spherical geometries. Temperature-dependent viscosity, pseudo-plasticity, tidal heating, and enhanced shear heating along the tiger stripes are implemented in the simulations. The temperature structure and heat flux are calculated and compared with relevant observational constraints. We determine the conditions under which convection can produce regional tectonic deformation patterns resembling the south polar terrains. More broadly, we hope to shed light on the conditions under which degree-one convection and a hemispheric tectonic dichotomy can occur.
Han Lijie
Showman Adam P.
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