Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis
We determine the depth of fracture penetration in multiple regions of Enceladus by performing self-similar clustering and length distribution analysis of fractures. The statistical characterization of fault-population attribute, such as length and clustering, provide a productive avenue for explorin...
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ftinstnastrofisi:oai:openaccess.inaf.it:20.500.12386/28016 2023-05-15T18:22:30+02:00 Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis LUCCHETTI, ALICE Pozzobon, R. Mazzarini, F. CREMONESE, Gabriele Massironi, M. ITA 2017 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/28016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.07.009 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910351630416X?via%3Dihub en eng ICARUS 0019-1035 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/28016 doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2017.07.009 2-s2.0-85025118606 000408599900020 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910351630416X?via%3Dihub 2017Icar.297.252L open Article 2017 ftinstnastrofisi https://doi.org/20.500.12386/28016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.07.009 2022-07-06T15:59:30Z We determine the depth of fracture penetration in multiple regions of Enceladus by performing self-similar clustering and length distribution analysis of fractures. The statistical characterization of fault-population attribute, such as length and clustering, provide a productive avenue for exploring deformation rate, stress transmission mode, rheology of the medium, and mechanical stratification of the ice satellite. Through this analysis, we estimate the depth of the mechanical discontinuity of Enceladus' ice shell that is the depth to which fractures penetrate the brittle ice layer above the ductile one. In this work, we find that for the South Polar Terrain (SPT), the brittle ice shell interested by fracture penetration is about 30 km and corresponds to the total depth of the ice shell because the SPT has a very high thermal gradient and, hence, fractures likely reach the ocean-ice interface. In the other regions analyzed, the depth of fracture penetration increases from 31 to 70 km from the South Pole to northern regions up to 75°. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole OA@INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) South Pole |
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Open Polar |
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OA@INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) |
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ftinstnastrofisi |
language |
English |
description |
We determine the depth of fracture penetration in multiple regions of Enceladus by performing self-similar clustering and length distribution analysis of fractures. The statistical characterization of fault-population attribute, such as length and clustering, provide a productive avenue for exploring deformation rate, stress transmission mode, rheology of the medium, and mechanical stratification of the ice satellite. Through this analysis, we estimate the depth of the mechanical discontinuity of Enceladus' ice shell that is the depth to which fractures penetrate the brittle ice layer above the ductile one. In this work, we find that for the South Polar Terrain (SPT), the brittle ice shell interested by fracture penetration is about 30 km and corresponds to the total depth of the ice shell because the SPT has a very high thermal gradient and, hence, fractures likely reach the ocean-ice interface. In the other regions analyzed, the depth of fracture penetration increases from 31 to 70 km from the South Pole to northern regions up to 75°. |
author2 |
ITA |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
LUCCHETTI, ALICE Pozzobon, R. Mazzarini, F. CREMONESE, Gabriele Massironi, M. |
spellingShingle |
LUCCHETTI, ALICE Pozzobon, R. Mazzarini, F. CREMONESE, Gabriele Massironi, M. Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
author_facet |
LUCCHETTI, ALICE Pozzobon, R. Mazzarini, F. CREMONESE, Gabriele Massironi, M. |
author_sort |
LUCCHETTI, ALICE |
title |
Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
title_short |
Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
title_full |
Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
title_fullStr |
Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Brittle ice shell thickness of Enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
title_sort |
brittle ice shell thickness of enceladus from fracture distribution analysis |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/28016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.07.009 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910351630416X?via%3Dihub |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_relation |
ICARUS 0019-1035 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/28016 doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2017.07.009 2-s2.0-85025118606 000408599900020 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001910351630416X?via%3Dihub 2017Icar.297.252L |
op_rights |
open |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.12386/28016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.07.009 |
_version_ |
1766201909097529344 |