A salt-water reservoir as the source of a compositionally stratified plume on Enceladus

F. Postberg (), J. Schmidt, J. Hillier, S. Kempf and R. Srama
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F. Postberg: Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
J. Schmidt: Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
J. Hillier: Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
S. Kempf: Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
R. Srama: Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik

Nature, 2011, vol. 474, issue 7353, 620-622

Abstract: Salty origin for the Enceladus plume Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is emitting a plume of water vapour and ice particles from warm fractures near its south pole known as tiger stripes. This plume material is thought to originate either from subsurface liquids or through the decomposition of ice. Postberg et al. report the first measurements of the compositions of freshly ejected particles, carried out by Cassini's dust detector during plume crossings. Salt-rich ice particles are found to dominate the total mass flux of ejected solids (>99%), which suggests that a salt-water reservoir with a large evaporating surface provides nearly all of the matter in the plume.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10175

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