A Geophysical View Of The Icy Satellites Of Saturn

Details A Geophysical View Of The Icy Satellites Of Saturn A Geophysical View Of The Icy Satellites Of Saturn

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p31d..01m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P31D-01

Physics

6280 Saturnian Satellites

Scientific paper

New data for the icy satellites of Saturn from Cassini and new results from laboratory investigations have enabled a new generation of geophysical models for these satellites. Current modeling techniques now take into account the satellite's accretion date and its porosity. The accretion date sets the amount of various radioactive isotopes that can be present for heating the satellite's interior and in some cases has a controlling influence on its thermal evolution. Laboratory data on porosity allows the initial porosity profile of a satellite to be modeled. As thermal evolution proceeds and critical temperatures are reached, porosity is reduced. Changes in porosity also produce changes in thermal conductivity which governs how much heat escapes from the interior. Under the right conditions, convection is possible. It speeds the upward transport of heat and in some cases can arrest the thermal development of a satellite. Application of the models to the satellites has resulted in a number of interesting discoveries. Iapetus is 4.564 By old. Its equatorial ridge and its present shape were set as Iapetus despun. Even through Enceladus is a small satellite, it has a hot interior. Enceladus also is probably a site where catalytic, organic chemistry is proceeding today. This work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA.

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