Ocean Worlds Here and Far

Abstract:

The one thing we know is in common between the ocean worlds beyond Earth in this solar system and those more distant is this: we haven’t been there yet. We’ve gathered remote sensing data of ice-covered moons in our solar system, even flown through the plumes of Enceladus, but the oceans remain elusive, and likely will for some time. With the explosion of exoplanet detection and research, a wider range of possibilities may soon not only be imagined but detected. In the meantime, ocean & polar research on Earth that focuses on fundamental understanding of how these parts of our own planet provide windows into distant worlds to help constrain what we can measure. The interdisciplinary perspective of planetary science also poses questions here on Earth differently can bring new perspectives into problems closer to home as well.

In this presentation, I will discuss some of the work to understand the polar ice and ocean of our planet and what this work may tell us about how the oceans of other planets work. These dynamics influence the chemical cycling, ice and ocean dynamics, and may similarly influence the habitability of these worlds, perhaps in ways that can be constrained through comparative studies. I will highlight new observations of the interactions between the ice and the ocean in Antarctica that are still relatively new on this planet where these dynamics play a key role in our climate, while on other planets may define ocean mixing, exchange with the surface, and the observable signal of ocean processes hidden under thick ice.