Enceladus: Beacon of Ocean Worlds
Enceladus: Beacon of Ocean Worlds
Session ID#: 124708
Session Description:
Saturn’s moon Enceladus continues to captivate. Its diversity of ocean world processes offers a bounty of phenomena for fundamental science, including cryovolcanism and plume dynamics, surface geology and the tectonics of ice, tidal heating, interior structure, ocean circulation dynamics, water-rock geochemistry, hydrothermal systems, the origin and evolution of icy bodies, and much more. Enceladus is a gateway to alien oceans. Furthermore, Enceladus is one of the prime destinations for astrobiology, because of the easy access to ocean-derived materials, and because it appears to be tantalizingly habitable. Many of us are now asking how Enceladus can support life, and how might we search for evidence of life?
This session brings our diverse community together to discuss the current state of understanding of all things Enceladus. We also welcome contributions that contextualize Enceladus with other areas of Earth and Planetary Sciences, or provide perspectives on the future of Enceladus exploration.
Co-Sponsor(s):
- AAS: American Astronomical Society -
- GS: Geochemical Society -
- GSA: Geological Society of America -
Index Terms:
0406 Astrobiology and extraterrestrial materials [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
1060 Planetary geochemistry [GEOCHEMISTRY]
6282 Enceladus [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS]
8149 Planetary tectonics [TECTONOPHYSICS]
Primary Convener: Christopher R Glein, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Conveners: Christopher R Glein, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States and Emily S Martin, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC, United States
Primary Liaison: Christopher R Glein, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
See more of: Planetary Sciences