South Polar Cycloidal Rift on Enceladus

Details South Polar Cycloidal Rift on Enceladus South Polar Cycloidal Rift on Enceladus

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.1804h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #18.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.514

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Large rifts near the south pole of Enceladus have been observed to be significantly warmer than the surrounding surface (Spencer et al. 2006 Science 311) and are most likely the source of jets of icy particles observed by Cassini (Porco et al. 2006 Science 311). The observed tectonics within the region have been proposed to have formed in response to stress from a diapir-induced reorientation of Encleadus (Nimmo and Pappalardo 2006 Nature 441) which should have dominated the formation of tectonics in the region. One prominent rift on Enceladus’ south pole resembles the shape of cycloids on Europa. We explore the possibility that tidal tectonic processes may have formed this rift at its current latitude in a similar manner to cycloids on Europa (i.e. that its formation reflects a crack's response to a diurnally varying stress field).
The ability of Saturn to raise a significant tide on Enceladus is enhanced, since Enceladus’ surface gravity is small. Moreover, Enceladus’ eccentricity causes the tide to oscillate in magnitude by 1% as it completes an orbit. Not only does the size of the tide on Enceladus change daily, but it oscillates 0.5o eastward and westward. The daily change in position and magnitude of the tidal bulge produces stress on the surface of Enceladus that may play a significant role in the formation of observed surface tectonics.
On Europa cycloidal cracks form as a result of tensile cracking in response to this type of diurnally varying stress (Hoppa et al. 1999 Science 285). As the cracks form and propagate across the surface, their paths are affected as the stresses rotate in the region. Modeling observed features allows for their formation locations (relative to Jupiter) to be determined (Hoppa et al. 2001 Icarus 153, Hurford 2005 Thesis).

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