Preliminary Measurements on the Mechanical Properties of Clathrate Hydrates with Implications for the Internal Dynamics of Icy Satellites

Details Preliminary Measurements on the Mechanical Properties of Clathrate Hydrates with Implications for the Internal Dynamics of Icy Satellites Preliminary Measurements on the Mechanical Properties of Clathrate Hydrates with Implications for the Internal Dynamics of Icy Satellites

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmmr13a1702c&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #MR13A-1702

Physics

0714 Clathrate, 1863 Snow And Ice (0736, 0738, 0776, 1827), 3902 Creep And Deformation, 3909 Elasticity And Anelasticity

Scientific paper

Surface features potentially associated with cryovolcanism have been identified on Titan, and the processes taking place beneath the surface are likely associated with the dissociation of clathrate hydrates and the release of methane. On Enceladus, the South Pole plume discovered by the Cassini-Huygens mission contains a large proportion of volatiles, in amounts consistent with models of clathrate hydrates dissociation at depth (Kieffer et al., Science 314, 1764-1766, 2006). The stability of clathrate hydrates is relatively well constrained in pure and mixed gas systems (e.g., Sloan, Clathrate hydrates of natural gases, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1998). Recent measurements of clathrate destabilization in presence of ammonia, a likely component of Titan's interior, led to the development of a new model of cryovolcanism (Choukroun et al., Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf., #1837, Houston, 2008). Internal dynamics relies on ice convection at depth on Titan and Enceladus (e.g., Tobie et al., Icarus 175, 496-502, 2005), and on relatively large tidal stresses on Enceladus. Clathrates are expected to destabilize when subject to stress (Durham et al., J. Geophys. Res. 108 (B4), 2182, 2003). Therefore, addressing the mechanical properties of clathrate hydrates in these environments is a necessary step toward better understanding cryovolcanic processes. We have developed a new apparatus for growing clathrate hydrates samples with controlled geometry, composition, and grain size. This system consists of a high-pressure autoclave and a cooling system and supports gas pressures up to 500 bars, and temperatures within the range -50 - 150 °C. We have started the production of clathrate hydrates of CH4, CO2, and N2 with this system, with the purpose to test their mechanical properties using an Instron compression system (Castillo-Rogez et al., submitted to J. Geophys. Res.; Castillo-Rogez et al., this meeting). We will present initial measurements on the creep response and on the viscoelastic response of clathrate hydrates as a function of frequency. These measurements will provide new information on the behavior of clathrate hydrates during dynamic motions within icy satellites.

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