Modeling the Enceladus Plumes: Source Mechanisms and the Possibility of Liquid Water

该项目将建立一个关于土卫二水蒸气和冰粒子羽流（EPs）形成和动力学演化的综合数值模型。由于产生EPs的储层的性质备受争议，包括液态水室的喷发、水合物的升华和排放，以及蒸汽通过冰孔的扩散，因此本文提出的模型将模拟不同的起源，并允许与现有观测结果进行比较。该模型描述了可压缩气体和沸腾液体在狭窄通道中膨胀的动力学、膨胀蒸汽中的颗粒生长、壁面上的冷凝和升华、周围冰中的传热和蒸汽扩散以及这些不同元素之间的反馈。这项工作将提高我们对土卫二地下结构和太阳系其他冰冷卫星上发生的过程的认识，并产生第一个完整的EP动力学和热力学模型。寻找液态水能够激发公众和可能考虑从事科学事业的年轻人的想象力，从而产生广泛的社会影响。土卫二是一个潜在的重要宜居岛屿：这个项目测试了液态水在地表以下存在的假设，以及它可能存在的深度，以及是否有支持生命的化学能来源。

AST-0808148IngersollThis project will develop a comprehensive numerical model of the formation and dynamical evolution of the Enceladus water vapor and ice particle plumes (EPs). Since the nature of the reservoir that produces EPs is hotly debated, including eruptions from chambers of liquid water, sublimation and venting of hydrate clathrate, and vapor diffusion through ice pores, the model proposed here will simulate different origins and allow comparison to available observations. The model describes the dynamics of compressible gas and of boiling liquids expanding through narrow channels, particle growth in the expanding vapor, condensation and sublimation on the walls, heat transfer and vapor diffusion in the surrounding ice, and feedback between these different elements. This work will advance our knowledge of the subsurface structure of Enceladus and of processes occurring on icy moons elsewhere in the solar system, producing the first complete model of the EP dynamics and thermodynamics.The search for liquid water has broad societal impact by capturing the imagination of the public and of young people who might be considering scientific careers. Enceladus is a potentially important island of habitability: this project tests the hypothesis that liquid water exists below the surface and at what depth it might exist, and whether there is a source of chemical energy to support life.