Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jul 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987natur.328..227m&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 328, July 16, 1987, p. 227-229.
Mathematics
Logic
12
Heating, Miranda, Satellite Rotation, Satellite Temperature, Chaos, Eccentricity, Ice, Topography, Uranus, Satellites, Miranda, Rotation, Warming, Spacecraft Observations, Voyager 2 Mission, Topography, Surface, Relaxation, Eruptions, Flow, Ice, Temperature, Thermal Effects, Water Ice, History, Eccentricity, Damping, Orbital Elements, Calculations, Icy Bodies
Scientific paper
An alternative explanation is offered for the surface appearance of Miranda, which appears to have had an active geological history seemingly characterized by relaxation of very large-scale topography or sinking of large blocks of material accreted by the satellite accompanied by the extrusion, eruption, and flow of icy material on the body. It is proposed here that topography or anomalous blocks themselves may once have provided the conditions for heating and softening the supporting material, even pure ice, by permitting chaotic rotation of the satellite. Moreover, this heating mechanism is self-limiting due to rapid damping of the orbital eccentricity. Topography at the presently observed scale could be preserved.
Greenberg Richard
Marcialis Robert
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