![]() Enceladus likely falls into this category since extensive resurfacing is limited to its South Polar Terrain, which is also characterized by a large thermal anomaly. An additional topic not yet addressed within the icy satellite community is how a non-global or variable thickness subsurface ocean would affect tidal heating. This is important for Enceladus, Titan, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto given that each of them is likely characterized by a ∼10 − 100 km thick solid shell overlying an ocean layer. There is a pressing need for the community to develop models of ocean tidal heating that take into account the effect of a solid lid on ocean dynamics. I am developing models for tidal dissipation in the oceans of icy satellites. However, despite increasing observational evidence for subsurface oceans in icy satellites, the majority of existing studies assume that tidal heating occurs only in the solid regions. On Earth, most of the tidal heating budget is generated in the oceans, and therefore one might expect dominant ocean tidal heating in icy satellites with oceans. This tidal heating is the main energy source for small icy satellites, and it occurs in both the solid and liquid regions. Gravitational tides produced by a giant planet like Jupiter or Saturn on an orbiting moon are powerful enough to warm the satellite by frictional heating. A variety of observations suggest the presence of subsurface oceans in icy satellites of the outer solar system, significantly increasing the likelihood that they may represent habitable worlds. ![]()
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