Sclater, Gillian (2024) Physics of dissociating clathrates in cyrovolcanic vents: application to Enceladus, Triton and Titan. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
There is strong evidence for past cryovolcanic resurfacing (eruption of liquid water, aqueous solutions of ammonia and/or other volatiles) on many bodies in the outer solar system. Locations where active cryovolcanism has recently been observed are Saturn's small moon Enceladus, and Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. In 1989, Voyager 2 imaged four active geysers on Triton's south polar region. During a flyby of Enceladus in 2005, Cassini discovered plumes composed of water vapour, solid particles and volatiles erupting from the fractures on the south polar terrain, and it has been suggested that the abundance of gases observed in the plumes and the explosive nature of the eruptions were the result of the dissociation of clathrate hydrates. It has also been suggested that vigorous explosive activity involving the dissociation of clathrates might be the norm on Titan, and might be responsible for many of the of cryovolcanic landforms observed, as well as providing a plausible explanation for the replenishment of methane in Titan's atmosphere. Results of in-situ high-pressure neutron diffraction studies of methane clathrate were used to improve the modelling of clathrate formation and behaviour under the conditions that exist deep in Titan’s icy mantle, and thus aid in constraining the origin and evolution of methane in Titan’s atmosphere. The model developed in this study and the neutron diffraction experiment results aim to establish a framework in which explosive activity can occur on Enceladus, Triton and Titan, and provide a firm physical basis for future modelling and observation.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Jun 2024 16:03 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Jun 2024 11:38 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/53625 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00053625 |
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