Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p24a..06t&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P24A-06
Other
[5422] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Ices, [5430] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Interiors, [5455] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Origin And Evolution, [6281] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Titan
Scientific paper
For many years, a variety of theoretical models have predicted the presence of liquid water oceans inside Titan and the large icy moons of Jupiter. Magnetic data returned by the Galileo spacecraft seems to confirm the presence of an ocean underneath the icy crust of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. On Titan, the Cassini-Huygens mission also provide indirect evidences for an internal liquid layer (change in spin rate, long-wavelength topography, Schumann resonance). However, the physical and chemical characteristics of these internal ocean remain very uncertain. It is likely that such water-rich oceans have been generated in the primordial stages of the satellite evolution, probably as a consequence of the accretional heat. On Titan, it is even envisaged that the water ocean was stable up to the surface during several tens of millions years, because the massive primitive atmosphere limited the cooling of the moon. The formation of a solid crust at the surface, which strongly reduces the efficiency of heat release, further limits the cooling and solidification of the ocean and may explain the presence of an internal liquid layer 4.5 billions after the satellite formation. Interactions through the icy crust between the ocean and the atmosphere have certainly occurred via various cryovolcanic processes all along Titan's evolution, thus partly controlling the chemical evolution of the atmosphere. Owing to differences in initial composition, size and orbital configuration, Titan and the Galilean moons have followed different evolutionary paths. Despite these differences, surprisingly, they all seem to have preserved an internal ocean. After reviewing the main characteristics of these different moons, we will detail the possible evolution of Titan's ocean and its differences with the other moons’ liquid layers. Expected exchanges with Titan’s surface and atmosphere will also be discussed. Finally, key geophysical measurements needed to constrain the physical characteristics of the present-day ocean will be presented.
Grasset Olivier
Tobie Gabriel
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