The effect of salinity on ocean circulation and ice-ocean interaction on Enceladus

TL;DR

This study uses numerical modeling to explore how salinity influences ocean circulation and ice shell dynamics on Enceladus, revealing that salinity affects stratification and heat transport, which impacts ice shell stability and symmetry.

Contribution

It demonstrates the critical role of salinity in ocean stratification and circulation on Enceladus, and highlights the importance of tidal heating in maintaining ice shell geometry.

Findings

Salinity determines ocean stratification and circulation patterns.

Without tidal heating, heat transport leads to pole freezing, destabilizing the ice shell.

Positive feedback between heat transport and melting may cause hemispheric asymmetry.

Abstract

Observational data suggest that the ice shell on Enceladus is thicker at the equator than at the pole, indicating an equator-to-pole ice flow. If the ice shell is in an equilibrium state, the mass transport of the ice flow must be balanced by the freezing and melting of the ice shell, which in turn is modulated by the ocean heat transport. Here we use a numerical ocean model to study the ice-ocean interaction and ocean circulation on Enceladus with different salinities. We find that salinity fundamentally determines the ocean stratification. A stratified layer forms in the low salinity ocean, affecting the ocean circulation and heat transport. However, in the absence of tidal heating in the ice shell, the ocean heat transport is found to always be towards lower latitudes, resulting in freezing at the poles, which cannot maintain the ice shell geometry against the equator-to-pole ice flow. The simulation results suggest that either the ice shell on Enceladus is not in an equilibrium state, or tidal dissipation in the ice shell is important in maintaining the ice shell geometry. The simulations also suggest that a positive feedback between cross-equatorial ocean heat transport and ice melting results in spontaneous symmetry breaking between the two hemispheres. This feedback may play a role in the observed interhemispheric asymmetry in the ice shell.