Degree-one convection and the origin of Enceladus' dichotomy

Details Degree-one convection and the origin of Enceladus' dichotomy Degree-one convection and the origin of Enceladus' dichotomy

Nov 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007icar..191..203g&link_type=abstract

Icarus, Volume 191, Issue 1, p. 203-210.

Mathematics

Logic

13

Scientific paper

Recently, the Cassini spacecraft has detected ongoing geologic activity near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. In contrast, the satellite's north-polar region is heavily cratered and appears to have been geologically inactive for a long time. We propose that this hemispheric dichotomy is caused by interior dynamics with degree-one convection driving the south-polar activity. We investigate a number of core sizes and internal heating rates for which degree-one convection occurs. The numerical simulations imply that a core radius of less than 100±20 km and an energy input at a rate of 3.0 to 5.5 GW would be required for degree-one convection to prevail. This is within the range of the observed thermal power release near Enceladus' south pole. Provided that Enceladus is not fully differentiated, degree-one convection is found to be a viable mechanism to explain Enceladus' hemispheric dichotomy.

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