DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2021
论文题名: Ocean-driven heating of Europa's icy shell at low latitudes
作者: Soderlund K.M. ; Schmidt B.E. ; Wicht J. ; Blankenship D.D.
刊名: Nature Geoscience
ISSN: 17520894
出版年: 2014
卷: 7, 期: 1 起始页码: 16
结束页码: 19
语种: 英语
英文摘要: The ice shell of Jupiter's moon Europa is marked by regions of disrupted ice known as chaos terrains that cover up to 40% of the satellite's surface, most commonly occurring within 40of the equator. Concurrence with salt deposits implies a coupling between the geologically active ice shell and the underlying liquid water ocean at lower latitudes. Europa's ocean dynamics have been assumed to adopt a two-dimensional pattern, which channels the moon's internal heat to higher latitudes. Here we present a numerical model of thermal convection in a thin, rotating spherical shell where small-scale convection instead adopts a three-dimensional structure and is more vigorous at lower latitudes. Global-scale currents are organized into three zonal jets and two equatorial Hadley-like circulation cells. We find that these convective motions transmit Europa's internal heat towards the surface most effectively in equatorial regions, where they can directly influence the thermo-compositional state and structure of the ice shell. We suggest that such heterogeneous heating promotes the formation of chaos features through increased melting of the ice shell and subsequent deposition of marine ice at low latitudes. We conclude that Europa's ocean dynamics can modulate the exchange of heat and materials between the surface and interior and explain the observed distribution of chaos terrains. © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/106422
Appears in Collections: 气候减缓与适应 科学计划与规划
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作者单位: Institute for Geophysics, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, 10100 Burnet Road (R2200), Austin, TX 78758-4445, United States; School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0340, United States; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau 37191, Germany
Recommended Citation:
Soderlund K.M.,Schmidt B.E.,Wicht J.,et al. Ocean-driven heating of Europa's icy shell at low latitudes[J]. Nature Geoscience,2014-01-01,7(1)