On the possibility of Serpentinization on Enceladus

Author(s)

S. Boye Nissen, Ruth-Sophie Taubner, Johannes Leitner, Maria Gertrude Firneis

Abstract

This work studies the possibility of serpentinization at the water/rock boundary of Enceladus (pH 7-9, 25-50 bars, and 0-50°C), and further estimates the hydrogen production rates. Thermodynamic databases were created with the DBCreate program [10], and geochemical modeling was applied with the EQ3/6 software package [2]. The chemical composition of the subsurface aquifer is assumed to be similar to the plumes. Nine scenarios were tested to specify the core composition. It is shown that serpentinization seems to be possible at the water/rock boundary on Enceladus if an iron-rich end-member is present in the core.

Organisation(s)

Department of Astrophysics

External organisation(s)

University of Copenhagen

Journal

Abstracts of the EPSC-DPS

Volume

10

Publication date

10-2015

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/on-the-possibility-of-serpentinization-on-enceladus(9db8f535-79cc-4e90-aadd-aecb05be54e7).html