Ocean world Archives

MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ocean World Dynamics: Deep Sea Weather

by Keith CowingAugust 2, 2024August 2, 2024

The seafloor is the final destination for all sorts of particles, like sand, mud, organic carbon that provides food for seafloor organisms, and even pollutants.

Ariel, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Webb Observes Carbon Oxides On Uranus’ Moon Ariel That Hint At A Hidden Ocean

by Keith CowingJuly 26, 2024July 26, 2024

The surface of Uranus’ moon Ariel is coated with a significant amount of carbon dioxide ice, especially on its “trailing hemisphere” that always faces away from the moon’s direction of […]

This view of Jupiter's icy moon Europa was captured by JunoCam, the public engagement camera aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft, during the mission's close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022. The picture is a composite of JunoCam's second, third, and fourth images taken during the flyby, as seen from the perspective of the fourth image. North is to the left. The images have a resolution of just over 0.5 to 2.5 miles per pixel (1 to 4 kilometers per pixel). As with our Moon and Earth, one side of Europa always faces Jupiter, and that is the side of Europa visible here. Europa's surface is crisscrossed by fractures, ridges, and bands, which have erased terrain older than about 90 million years. Citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill processed the images to enhance the color and contrast. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing: Kevin M. Gill CC BY 3.0

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Radiation, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Biosignatures Could Survive Near The Surfaces of Enceladus and Europa

by Keith CowingJuly 23, 2024July 22, 2024

Europa, a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, have evidence of oceans beneath their ice crusts. A NASA experiment suggests that if these oceans support life, signatures […]

Surface water regimes for terrestrial planets ranging from 0.1 M⊕ to 10 M⊕. Each limit between regimes is explained in the text. Planets in either the waterworld, Earth-like, or Dune planet regime may be habitable, while desiccated surfaces are uninhabitable. The transition between surface water regimes depends weakly on planetary mass (cf. Cowan & Abbot 2014) -- astro-ph.EP

Analog Studies, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Evolution and Inventories of Super-Earths Orbiting Late M-Dwarfs

by Keith CowingJuly 1, 2024July 1, 2024

Super-Earths orbiting M-dwarf stars may be the most common habitable planets in the Universe. However, their habitability is threatened by intense irradiation from their host stars, which drives the escape […]

Cartoon illustrating the physical configuration for sustaining a hydrothermal siphon, with primary driving and resistive forces as applied in this study. Terms are discussed in text and combined in Equation 2. ∆Pv (>0) is primary driving energy in simulations, based on differences in temperature and density between recharging and discharging columns of pore fluid. ∆PR, ∆PD, ∆PC, and ∆PL (≤0) are pressure (energy) losses, depending on formation properties and the extent of secondary convection. ∆Psiph is what remains of ∆Pv after accounting for loss terms, available to drive siphon flow. s = sediment/conductive boundary layer, bu = upper rocky layer, ba = aquifer layer. This cartoon neglects other potential driving forces such as tidal pumping and buoyancy generated by exothermic reactions. -- Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gravitational Biology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Sustaining Hydrothermal Circulation With Gravity Relevant to Ocean Worlds

by Keith CowingJune 28, 2024June 28, 2024

Some ocean worlds may sustain active, seafloor hydrothermal systems, but the characteristics and controls on fluid-heat transport in these systems are not well understood.

Adaptation to the harsh conditions of a geologic period of global glaciation may have sparked the development of multicellular life. (image: Michael Schiffer/Unsplash)

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Why The Harsh Snowball Earth Kick-started Our Earliest Multicellular Ancestors

by Keith CowingJune 27, 2024June 27, 2024

For a billion years, single-celled eukaryotes ruled the planet. Then around 700 million years ago during Snowball Earth — a geologic era when glaciers may have stretched as far as […]

Examples of Triton's surface morphology, which is dissimilar from the other ice-covered moons in the outer solar system. Extensive smooth planitia (plains) disrupt the cantaloupe terrain. A few small craters are notable in their sparsity. (Image center 23° E, 21° N.) Each panel is a portion of our Triton mosaic, which is in orthographic projection at a scale of 600 m pixel−1. NASA/The Planetary Science Journal

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Neptune, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Increasing the Usability and Accessibility of Voyager 2 Images of Triton

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2024June 25, 2024

Much of what we know about Neptune’s moon Triton was inferred from the analysis of images returned by the Voyager 2 mission, the only spacecraft to have visited that putative […]

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Hydrothermal Vents On The Seafloors Of Ocean Worlds Could Support Life

by Keith CowingJune 25, 2024June 25, 2024

We’ve all seen the surreal footage in nature documentaries showing hydrothermal vents on the frigid ocean floor—bellowing black plumes of super-hot water—and the life forms that cling to them. Now, […]

2016: Alvin working on the East Pacific Rise, as viewed from a camera on an elevator (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Offworld Away Team Analog: New Opportunities and Untapped Scientific Potential in Earth’s Abyssal Ocean

by Keith CowingMay 23, 2024May 23, 2024

The abyssal ocean covers more than half of the Earth’s surface, yet remains understudied and underappreciated. In this Perspectives article, we mark the occasion of the Deep Submergence Vehicle Alvin’s […]