Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p24a..07m&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P24A-07
Other
[5430] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Interiors, [6020] Planetary Sciences: Comets And Small Bodies / Ices, [6281] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Titan
Scientific paper
A key parameter that controls the crystalization of primordial oceans in large icy moons is the presence of anti-freeze compounds. These compounds may have maintained primordial oceans over the age of the solar system. The phase diagram of the water-ammonia system is well documented, and several studies showed that the presence of a few wt% of ammonia in the primordial oceans of icy moons may stop the crystalization of these oceans. Here we investigate the influence of another possible anti-freeze candidate, methanol, on the crystallization of Titan's primordial ocean. Using a thermodynamic model of the solar nebula and assuming a plausible composition of its initial gas phase, we first calculate the condensation sequence of ices in Saturn's feeding zone, and show that in Titan's building blocks methanol can have a mass fraction of ~4 wt% relative to water, i.e., methanol can be up to four times more abundant than ammonia. We then combine available data on the phase diagram of the water-methanol system and scaling laws derived from thermal convection to estimate the influence of methanol on the dynamics of the outer ice I shell and on the heat transfer through this layer. Our results indicate that a small fraction of methanol, which is consistent with the determination of Titan's building blocks composition, strongly reduces the vigor of convection in the outer ice shell. The effect of 5 wt% methanol is equivalent to that of 3 wt% ammonia. Thus, if methanol is present in the primordial ocean of Titan, the crystallization may stop, and a sub-surface ocean may be maintained between the ice I and high pressure ice layers. A preliminary estimate indicates that the presence of 4 wt% methanol and 1 wt% ammonia may result in an ocean at least 90 km thick.
Deschamps Frédéric
Lunine Jonathan I.
Mousis Oliver
Sanchez-Valle Carmen
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