The role of nonuniform internal heating in Triton's energy budget

Details The role of nonuniform internal heating in Triton's energy budget The role of nonuniform internal heating in Triton's energy budget

Jun 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991pggp.rept...22k&link_type=abstract

In NASA, Washington, Reports of Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program, 1990 p 22-24 (SEE N92-10728 01-91)

Physics

Geophysics

Energy Budgets, Heat Flux, Icy Satellites, Internal Energy, Planetary Cores, Solar Position, Surface Temperature, Vapors, Albedo, Convection, Emissivity, Heating, Insolation, Polar Caps, Radiogenic Materials, Silicates, Sublimation

Scientific paper

Triton's large heliocentric distance and high albedo, combined with its unusually large silicate mass fraction, make internal heating more important in its energy budget than in that of any other icy satellite. Brown et al. have recently estimated that the average radiogenic heat flux (which is probably between 3.3 and 6.6 mW/sq m depending on core size and composition) may equal 5 to 20 pct. of the average absorbed insolation. On a global scale, this additional energy input appreciably increases the thermal emissivity required to be consistent with the observed surface temperature. Brown et al. also speculated that spatial variations of the internal flux may change the local sublimation deposition balance enough to lead to observable modifications of the distribution of volatiles on Triton's surface. An attempt is made to estimate the magnitude of internal heat flux variations due to the insulating effect of the polar caps, to mantle convection, and to cryovolcanism; the importance is evaluated of these variations in modifying the volatile distribution.

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