Physics – Geophysics
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.6403t&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #64.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.612
Physics
Geophysics
Scientific paper
Features on the surface of Europa may reflect non-uniform heating in an underlying ocean due to variations in heat flux at the mantle surface. Pore water convection can generate a spatially heterogeneous heat flux in a fractured, permeable mantle, as illustrated in 2-D computer simulations of the thermal evolution of Europa. The model uses three layers - core, silicate mantle, and H2O (liquid and frozen). Processes active in the model include radiogenic heating, tidal dissipative heating (TDH), thermal diffusion, latent heat of melting and pore water convection. Starting from a cold Europa, radiogenic heating and TDH produce a temperature profile ranging from a peak near 1150 oC in the deep interior to 15 oC at the mantle surface, overlain by an 80 km deep ocean layer at 3 oC, capped by an ice shell approximately 20 km thick. This structure provides initial conditions for our pore water convection simulation. Mantle permeability is based on Earth values. An initial, very strong flow gives way to a weaker quasi-steady pattern of convection in the mantle's porosity. Plumes rise from the mantle at a roughly 10o spacing, through the ocean layer up to the base of the ice. These are typically 50 - 100 km wide at the base of the ice. Plume heat flux is 10-12 W/m2 during the initial transient, but later drops to about 0.5 - 1.5 W/m2. Heating at the base of the ice shell is spatially heterogeneous, but only strong enough to produce significant melt-through during the initial transient. However, strong spatial heterogeneity of basal heating of the ice shell could significantly influence convection in the ice phase. This work was supported by a grant from the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory and by the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program.
Palguta Jennifer
Schubert Gerald
Travis Bryan
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