Work is published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Enceladus is a small satellite Saturn, the sixth in size and the fourteenth distance from the planet. Its diameter is only about 500 kilometers. It is believed that the ocean of liquid saline water can be hidden by the ocean of Endzelda, which exists at the expense of tidal forces (samples of liquid water of this ocean were taken by the Cassini apparatus, and their research was published back in 2014). Therefore, the study of the satellite is important as a candidate, which may exist extraterrestrial microbial life.
At the same time, the ocean of Encelada, as scientists believe, is not like the earth. After all, on our planet, it is relatively shabby, an average of 3.6 kilometers deep. It covers three quarters of the earth surface and upstairs warmer than at the depth, due to the warming up sunshine. On the satellite Saturn Ocean, on the contrary, very deep and is, according to experts, not less than 30 kilometers deep, covers the entire surface of the Encelade, and at the depth of warmer than on the surface.
Meanwhile, a new study of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (USA) shows that the Saturnian satellite may be ocean flows like Earth. The fact is that the ice crust of the ocean of Enceladus is heterogeneous: it is known that on the poles it is much thinner than at the equator. According to the researchers, this suggests that in the ocean there is something more complex than the simple vertical convection.
Thin areas of ice crust are probably associated with intense melting, and thick - with intense freezing. Scientists suggest that in those places where ice is thicker, the ocean is more salty, because only water freezes, and the salts are lowered down on the bottom. It makes water at the bottom more dense. In areas where the ice is thinner, the reverse process occurs. On Earth, such phenomena lead to various oceanic flows.
The scientists team developed a computer model for Enceladus, partially based on the understanding of the nature of similar flows on Earth. It turned out that they are quite possible on Saturn's companion. These findings will help to identify places - the most favorable areas of the ocean, - where the extraterrestrial life is "hiding". If, of course, it is there.
Source: Naked Science