English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Enceladus is a primary target for astrobiology due to the $\rm H_2O$ plumeejecta measured by the Cassini spacecraft and the inferred subsurface oceansustained by tidal heating. Sourcing the plumes via a direct connection fromthe ocean to the surface requires a fracture through the entire ice shell($\sim$10 km). Here we explore an alternative mechanism in which shear heatingwithin shallower tiger stripe fractures produces partial melting in the iceshell and interstitial convection allows fluid to be ejected as geysers. We usean idealized two-dimensional multiphase reactive transport model to simulatethe thermomechanics of a mushy region generated by an upper bound estimate forthe localized shear heating rate in a salty ice shell. From our simulations, wepredict the temperature, porosity, salt content, melting rate, and liquidvolume of an intrashell mushy zone surrounding a fracture. We find that therate of internal melting can match the observed $\rm H_2O$ eruption rate andthat there is sufficient brine volume within the mushy zone to sustain thegeysers for $\sim350$ kyr without additional melting. The composition of theliquid brine is, however, distinct from that of the ocean, due to partialmelting. This shear heating mechanism for geyser formation applies to Enceladusand other icy moons and has implications for our understanding of thegeophysical processes and astrobiological potential of icy satellites.

A mushy source for the geysers of Enceladus