S. Vance; S. Kedar; M. P. Panning; Simon C. Stähler; B. G. Bills; R. D. Lorenz; Hsin‐Hua Huang; W. T. Pike; Julie Castillo‐Rogez; Philippe Lognonné; Victor C. Tsai; A. R. Rhoden · 2018 · Astrobiology
Paper
Ice-covered ocean worlds possess diverse energy sources and associated mechanisms that are capable of driving significant seismic activity, but to date no measurements of their seismic activity have been obtained. Such investigations could reveal the transport properties and radial structures, with possibilities for locating and characterizing trapped liquids that may host life and yielding critical constraints on redox fluxes and thus on habitability. Modeling efforts have examined seismic sources from tectonic fracturing and impacts. Here, we describe other possible seismic sources, their associations with science questions constraining habitability, and the feasibility of implementing such investigations. We argue, by analogy with the Moon, that detectable seismic activity should occur frequently on tidally flexed ocean worlds. Their ices fracture more easily than rocks and dissipate more tidal energy than the <1 GW of the Moon and Mars. Icy ocean worlds also should create less thermal noise due to their greater distance and consequently smaller diurnal temperature variations. They also lack substantial atmospheres (except in the case of Titan) that would create additional noise. Thus, seismic experiments could be less complex and less susceptible to noise than prior or planned planetary seismology investigations of the Moon or Mars. Key Words: Seismology-Redox-Ocean worlds-Europa-Ice-Hydrothermal. Astrobiology 18, 37-53.
Analysis
This paper explores the potential of seismology to investigate the habitability of icy ocean worlds by analyzing seismic sources and the feasibility of seismic investigations.
Discovery
Bastien Bodin; Daniel Cordier; Ashley Gerard Davies
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Source record