Other
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.3811k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #38.11
Other
Scientific paper
The tiger stripe cracks in the south-polar region of Enceladus are the source of the geyser-like eruptions imaged by the Cassini spacecraft. Although past work has mainly focused on these active cracks, which have fairly consistent orientations, the south-polar terrain (SPT) has been pervasively fractured during a complex tectonic history. Our detailed mapping has revealed three additional relict fracture sets having tiger stripe-like characteristics, but with different orientations. Using crosscutting relationships, relative ages were established for the four systematic fracture sets, which show a counterclockwise progression in orientation through time. They imply the causal SPT stress field created distinct fracture sets at different points in time, gradually rotating 153° counterclockwise relative to the present day surface, culminating in the stress field that produced the tiger stripes. Older fracture sets influenced the development of younger sets. For example, the tiger stripe Alexandria Sulcus inherited a portion of an older set along part of its length, creating a dogleg shape. Intersections between different fracture sets also appear to correlate with eruptive plume locations, suggesting a structural control on sites of eruptions. The systematic nature of the fracture sets, combined with the temporal change in orientations, is compatible with the process of nonsynchronous rotation (NSR) being the primary cause of fracturing, as has been proposed for curvilinear fractures on Europa. If this is the case, it may hint at the presence of a global liquid ocean on Enceladus that decouples a mobile ice shell from the silicate interior. A global ocean has been previously conjectured; however, the SPT fracture history may provide indirect evidence. Although NSR may account for a temporal rotation of the stress field, the localization of activity in the SPT nonetheless points to other factors at work, such as a thermal plume in the ice beneath the south pole.
Kattenhorn Simon A.
Patthoff Alex D.
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