Constraining ocean and ice shell thickness on Ariel from surface geologic structures and stress mapping

IF 3 2区物理与天体物理 Q2 ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

Icarus Pub Date : 2025-09-22 DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116822

Caleb Strom , Tom A. Nordheim , D. Alex Patthoff , Sherry K. Fieber-Beyer

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The Voyager 2 flyby of Ariel revealed this moon of Uranus to be a geologically complex world. Analysis of Voyager image data has revealed Ariel to host evidence of potentially cryovolcanic features and a system of fractures and basins which could be connected to geologic resurfacing in the past 1–2 Ga. A plausible stress source for this resurfacing is tidal stress from a higher orbital eccentricity in the geologically recent past due to chaotic orbital evolution during a past episode of mean-motion resonance with the other Uranian satellites. In this study, we compare stress modeling and geologic structures on Ariel's surface to constrain the interior structure and past orbital eccentricity which would be necessary to generate sufficient stress through eccentricity tides to result in geologic resurfacing at Ariel's surface. Our results suggest that an eccentricity of e ≥ 0.04 could generate stress sufficient to cause geological resurfacing at Ariel's surface, create a stress distribution consistent with the stress distribution inferred from Ariel's surface geology, and result in a ∼ 170 km thick subsurface ocean that existed within geologically recent (1–2 Ga) time.

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从地表地质构造和应力填图看Ariel的海洋和冰壳厚度

旅行者2号飞掠Ariel揭示了天王星的这颗卫星是一个地质复杂的世界。对旅行者号图像数据的分析显示，阿里尔有可能存在冰冻火山特征的证据，以及一个裂缝和盆地系统，这些可能与过去1-2亿年的地质重新地表有关。这种重新表面的一个合理的应力来源是最近地质时期较高的轨道偏心造成的潮汐应力，这是由于过去与其他天王星卫星的平均运动共振期间混乱的轨道演化造成的。在这项研究中，我们比较了应力模型和Ariel表面的地质结构，以约束内部结构和过去的轨道偏心，这是通过偏心潮产生足够的应力导致Ariel表面地质重铺所必需的。我们的研究结果表明，e≥0.04的偏心率可以产生足够的应力，导致Ariel表面的地质重铺，产生与Ariel表面地质推断的应力分布一致的应力分布，并导致在地质最近（1-2 Ga）时间内存在约170 km厚的地下海洋。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Icarus 地学天文-天文与天体物理

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

18.80%

发文量

356

审稿时长

2-4 weeks

期刊介绍： Icarus is devoted to the publication of original contributions in the field of Solar System studies. Manuscripts reporting the results of new research - observational, experimental, or theoretical - concerning the astronomy, geology, meteorology, physics, chemistry, biology, and other scientific aspects of our Solar System or extrasolar systems are welcome. The journal generally does not publish papers devoted exclusively to the Sun, the Earth, celestial mechanics, meteoritics, or astrophysics. Icarus does not publish papers that provide "improved" versions of Bode''s law, or other numerical relations, without a sound physical basis. Icarus does not publish meeting announcements or general notices. Reviews, historical papers, and manuscripts describing spacecraft instrumentation may be considered, but only with prior approval of the editor. An entire issue of the journal is occasionally devoted to a single subject, usually arising from a conference on the same topic. The language of publication is English. American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these.