Geyser-spitting Fractures tagged posts

Icequakes likely rumble along Geyser-spitting Fractures in Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus

A satellite image of the research study site on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica (top) shows two rifts in the ice from rising and falling tides. Similarly sized “tiger stripe fractures” crease the ice in Enceladus’ South Polar Terrain, in an image captured by the Cassini Imaging Team. From figure 1 of the new study.
Credit: AGU/ JGR: Planets

Seismic activity could give scientists a read on the thickness of the ice encasing the moon and the oceans believed to lie beneath. Tidal stresses may be causing constant icequakes on Saturn’s sixth largest moon Enceladus, a world of interest in the search for life beyond Earth, according to a new study. A better understanding of seismic activity could reveal what’s under the moon’s icy crust and provide clues to the habitability of its ocean.

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