Shear heating as the origin of the plumes and heat flux on Enceladus

F. Nimmo (), J. R. Spencer, R. T. Pappalardo and M. E. Mullen
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F. Nimmo: University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
J. R. Spencer: Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Boulder, Colorado 80304, USA
R. T. Pappalardo: Planetary Science and Life Detection Section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 183-301, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
M. E. Mullen: Campus Box 391, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0391, USA

Nature, 2007, vol. 447, issue 7142, 289-291

Abstract: High tide on Enceladus The Cassini flyby of 14 July 2005 revealed plumes of water vapour and ice associated with the 'tiger stripe' features on the surface of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. Since then the challenge has been to explain the nature of the plumes and the forces driving them. Two papers this week offer an explanation that accounts for both the plume characteristics and the presence of hot spots without the need to assume the existence of near-surface liquid water, a requirement of some previous models. Nimmo et al. identify tidally driven lateral fault motions near the tiger stripes as the most likely drivers of heat and vapour production. And Hurford et al. show that as Enceladus orbits Saturn, the parent planet's tides make the satellite's ice flex. This may cause the tiger stripes to open and close periodically, exposing volatile gases and allowing them to be released.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05783

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