ice shell Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Astrobiology

Values of (a) ice-ocean heat flux and (b) thickness under which a conductive steady state is expected at particular basal viscosities in an ice shell with no internal heat source. The Rayleigh number is shown in color; here the critical Rayleigh number is taken to be 106 . The white section of the color plot in (b) as well as in (c) corresponds to the region for which steady-state conductive thicknesses would exceed the critical Rayleigh number. (c) Values of ice-ocean heat flux and thickness (inset) under which a conductive steady state is expected at particular basal viscosities in an internally-heating ice shell (I = 10−6 Wm−3 ). Rayleigh number is in color. Related steady-state conductive thicknesses are shown in the inset.(d) Relationship between ice shell thickness and ice-ocean heat flux for different values of internal heating (color) in steady-state. Depth-dependent internal heating following the prescription in Equation 7 for particular reference viscosities are shown by the black dots (ηb = 1013 Pa s), plus signs (ηb = 1015 Pa s), and stars (ηb = 1017 Pa s). The black dots with the gray outline indicate ice thicknesses which would be unstable to convection for the given reference viscosity and a critical Rayleigh number of O(106 ). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Europa’s Coupled Ice-Ocean System: Temporal Evolution of a Pure Ice Shell

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Europa’s icy surface likely overlies an ocean, but the ice thickness is not known.

Shell thickness model

Cryobiology, Enceladus, Icy Worlds, Press Release

Understanding The Structure Of Enceladus’ Ice Shell

by Keith CowingFebruary 24, 2023February 24, 2023

Enceladus is a dynamic icy moon of Saturn and a leading target for future planetary missions focused on the search for life beyond Earth.