American astrobiologists from Cornell University have discovered a new way to determine the temperature of oceans on distant planets based on the thickness of these worlds’ ice caps. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Cornell University Cornell Chronicle.
Available data showing changes in ice thickness allow us to make predictions for the upper ocean layers of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
The researchers suggest that the process called “ice pumping” that they observed beneath ice shelves in Antarctica likely formed the underside of the ice shells of Europa and Enceladus. It should also occur on Ganymede and Titan, the large moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively.
The data show that the temperature ranges at which ice and ocean interact can be calculated from the slope of the ice shell and changes in the freezing point of water under different pressure and salinity conditions.
Scientists believe that on Enceladus the pumping of ice would be weak, while on the larger Europa it would move rapidly, flattening and flattening the base of the icy crust.
According to astrobiologists, information about water temperatures on other worlds will make it possible to assess the habitability of alien oceans.
Previous researchers assumedSubglacial oceans on other planets in the solar system are almost certainly devoid of life.