Enceladus may have ocean currents like we see around Antarctica
https://www.space.com/saturn-moon-encela...n-currents
EXCERPTS: The ocean of the water-spurting moon Enceladus might be more active than scientists realized. New theories based on the shape of the ice shell suggest that 12 miles (20 kilometers) below the surface, the ocean inside Saturn's icy moon may have currents similar to those on Earth.
Scientists have been keeping an eye on Enceladus since 2014, when the Cassini spacecraft caught dozens of geysers spewing through fissures in the ice shell. This new theory, however, challenges previous thinking that suggested Enceladus' global ocean is mostly homogenous, besides some vertical mixing caused by the warmth of the moon's core.
[...] The new research suggests that salt levels in the ocean of Enceladus can vary by region, which may change circulation patterns. If proven, that would be similar to what oceanographers see in the regions of ocean on Earth that surround Antarctica, which Thompson studies regularly.
[...] While Enceladus can be partly understood by studying Antarctica, the team pointed to significant differences from Earth's ocean to consider. Our planet's ocean is only 2.2 miles (3.6 km) deep on average, while that of Enceladus is roughly eight times deeper. Warming patterns are also different: On Earth, oceans tend to be warmer at the surface, closer to the sun's rays; by contrast, the waters on Enceladus are likely warmer at the bottom, from the core's heat... (MORE - details)
New Marsquakes give NASA's InSight a shake-up in seismic theory
https://www.slashgear.com/new-marsquakes...-01666659/
EXCERPTS: Mars may not have tectonic plates like Earth does, but that doesn’t mean the red planet isn’t capable of some serious quakes, with NASA’s InSight lander recording a further two in what’s believed to be a hotspot for seismic activity. The so-called “Marsquakes” are the latest to be spotted in Cerberus Fossae, no stranger to ground-shaking events.
[...] The tremors on Mars may register on instruments like seismometers like those on Earth would, but their cause is actually very different. On our planet, it’s shifts in the tectonic plates – which float on a layer of magma and then rub against each other – which lead to earthquakes. Mars, though, lacks the plates, but it does have regions of volcanic activity that are capable of producing quakes of their own.
Although InSight has recorded evidence of more than 500 such events during its time on Mars, these four are distinct among the data. They’re the clearest NASA has, with the new 3.3 and 3.1 magnitude results lending weight to theories that Cerberus Fossae is a hotspot for seismic activity on the planet. They also help unlock details on how those quakes are similar, and different, to ones we’re more familiar with.
“Over the course of the mission, we’ve seen two different types of marsquakes,” Taichi Kawamura of France’s Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, responsible for the SEIS, said of the new findings, “one that is more ‘Moon-like’ and the other, more ‘Earth-like’.” The four clear readings are more Earth-like, the scientists say... (MORE - details)
https://www.space.com/saturn-moon-encela...n-currents
EXCERPTS: The ocean of the water-spurting moon Enceladus might be more active than scientists realized. New theories based on the shape of the ice shell suggest that 12 miles (20 kilometers) below the surface, the ocean inside Saturn's icy moon may have currents similar to those on Earth.
Scientists have been keeping an eye on Enceladus since 2014, when the Cassini spacecraft caught dozens of geysers spewing through fissures in the ice shell. This new theory, however, challenges previous thinking that suggested Enceladus' global ocean is mostly homogenous, besides some vertical mixing caused by the warmth of the moon's core.
[...] The new research suggests that salt levels in the ocean of Enceladus can vary by region, which may change circulation patterns. If proven, that would be similar to what oceanographers see in the regions of ocean on Earth that surround Antarctica, which Thompson studies regularly.
[...] While Enceladus can be partly understood by studying Antarctica, the team pointed to significant differences from Earth's ocean to consider. Our planet's ocean is only 2.2 miles (3.6 km) deep on average, while that of Enceladus is roughly eight times deeper. Warming patterns are also different: On Earth, oceans tend to be warmer at the surface, closer to the sun's rays; by contrast, the waters on Enceladus are likely warmer at the bottom, from the core's heat... (MORE - details)
New Marsquakes give NASA's InSight a shake-up in seismic theory
https://www.slashgear.com/new-marsquakes...-01666659/
EXCERPTS: Mars may not have tectonic plates like Earth does, but that doesn’t mean the red planet isn’t capable of some serious quakes, with NASA’s InSight lander recording a further two in what’s believed to be a hotspot for seismic activity. The so-called “Marsquakes” are the latest to be spotted in Cerberus Fossae, no stranger to ground-shaking events.
[...] The tremors on Mars may register on instruments like seismometers like those on Earth would, but their cause is actually very different. On our planet, it’s shifts in the tectonic plates – which float on a layer of magma and then rub against each other – which lead to earthquakes. Mars, though, lacks the plates, but it does have regions of volcanic activity that are capable of producing quakes of their own.
Although InSight has recorded evidence of more than 500 such events during its time on Mars, these four are distinct among the data. They’re the clearest NASA has, with the new 3.3 and 3.1 magnitude results lending weight to theories that Cerberus Fossae is a hotspot for seismic activity on the planet. They also help unlock details on how those quakes are similar, and different, to ones we’re more familiar with.
“Over the course of the mission, we’ve seen two different types of marsquakes,” Taichi Kawamura of France’s Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, responsible for the SEIS, said of the new findings, “one that is more ‘Moon-like’ and the other, more ‘Earth-like’.” The four clear readings are more Earth-like, the scientists say... (MORE - details)