An Oceanic Mechanism for Geyser Formation on Enceladus

An Oceanic Mechanism for Geyser Formation on Enceladus | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article An Oceanic Mechanism for Geyser Formation on Enceladus Daniel Abdulah, Wanying Kang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4588074/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The tiger stripes of Enceladus are a sequence of four parallel and evenly-spaced fissures 130~km long which erupt water from a global subsurface ocean out into space. We present the first theory of their formation which links the observed surface to yet unexplored features of the oceanic environment below. Given one initial fissure, topography on the underside of the ice shell rubs periodically against the ocean due to the satellite's libration. This motion excites internal gravity waves which propagate down and reflect at a bottom boundary, reimpacting the underside of the shell at a fixed distance away from primary fissure. This impact generates heat through wave breaking which melts the ice, forming the next fissures in a chain of parallel stripes. We solve for the internal wave field, energy dissipated, and ice melted using linear gravity wave analysis, extending previous literature on gravity wave conversion. The dissipation predicted by the analytical theory matches nonlinear simulations using the MITgcm, especially when the flow remains subcritical. Dissipative regimes where new fissures can form are identified. Maintaining that formation occurs at the observed 35 km spacing, we discuss implications for ocean depth and stratification. Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Rings and moons Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Rings and moons Enceladus tides geyser Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4588074","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":318140597,"identity":"f164826d-5e84-4de0-b3d1-f0913838a8b9","order_by":0,"name":"Daniel Abdulah","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAwElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDCCAzwMEgwFDAn8DIwNQC4zsVoMGBIkGxgbG0jTYnAAbA0RWviOnz14m8fALs/42uH2BwwV1okNhLRInslLtuYxSC42u50IdNiZdMJaDA7kmEnzGDAnbgNpYWw7TISW829AWuoTN88GaflHjJYbYFsOJ26QBmlpIEKL5I13yZZzDI4nzgA6bEbCsXRjglr4zucevPGmojqxf3b6gw8faqxlCWpBBQmkKR8Fo2AUjIJRgAsAAF6FRQr04PmhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniel","middleName":"","lastName":"Abdulah","suffix":""},{"id":318140598,"identity":"3889e50e-07e6-4278-b8a2-8401aa372c15","order_by":1,"name":"Wanying Kang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"MIT","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wanying","middleName":"","lastName":"Kang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-06-16 01:50:06","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4588074/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4588074/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":60540524,"identity":"7a7accdf-8ecd-4911-81a7-0167a74585f6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-07-18 02:14:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1055241,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"AbdulahKangNatureEnceladus.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4588074/v1_covered_f8d36bc1-dce8-4f2b-bd8c-8022de997523.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"An Oceanic Mechanism for Geyser Formation on Enceladus","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Enceladus, tides, geyser","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4588074/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4588074/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The tiger stripes of Enceladus are a sequence of four parallel and evenly-spaced fissures 130~km long which erupt water from a global subsurface ocean out into space. We present the first theory of their formation which links the observed surface to yet unexplored features of the oceanic environment below. Given one initial fissure, topography on the underside of the ice shell rubs periodically against the ocean due to the satellite's libration. This motion excites internal gravity waves which propagate down and reflect at a bottom boundary, reimpacting the underside of the shell at a fixed distance away from primary fissure. This impact generates heat through wave breaking which melts the ice, forming the next fissures in a chain of parallel stripes. We solve for the internal wave field, energy dissipated, and ice melted using linear gravity wave analysis, extending previous literature on gravity wave conversion. The dissipation predicted by the analytical theory matches nonlinear simulations using the MITgcm, especially when the flow remains subcritical. Dissipative regimes where new fissures can form are identified. Maintaining that formation occurs at the observed 35 km spacing, we discuss implications for ocean depth and stratification.","manuscriptTitle":"An Oceanic Mechanism for Geyser Formation on Enceladus","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-07-18 02:06:13","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4588074/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2b443ab6-7844-4ce7-8133-3f8a69ad48be","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 18th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":33635105,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science/Rings and moons"},{"id":33635106,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography"},{"id":33635107,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Rings and moons"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-07-18T02:06:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-07-18 02:06:13","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4588074","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4588074","identity":"rs-4588074","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}