Enceladus’s thermal engine
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1 Ice crust thickness varies at different latitudes, thinner at the poles
2 Porous rocky core passively absorbs salty ocean water
3 Gravitational friction caused by Saturn’s mass creates tidal heating
4 Hot spots on the sea floor emit plumes of heated water and rocky material
5 Ocean ice is melted causing fissures from which jets of hot water vapour and particles erupt
Enceladus’s thermal engine
Ice crust thickness varies at different
latitudes, thinner at the poles
Porous rocky core passively
absorbs salty ocean water
Gravitational friction caused by
Saturn’s mass creates tidal heating
Hot spots on the sea floor emit plumes
of heated water and rocky material
Ocean ice is melted causing fissures
from which jets of hot water vapour
and particles erupt