Paleo-heat flux estimates across Enceladus derived from flexural response of the ice shell
Abstract
Saturn's moon Enceladus has active plumes suggestive of locally high heat fluxes at present, and the present-day heating is reasonably well characterized. However, the moon's thermal history is not well understood. In this study, we model flexural deformation of chasmata and dorsae in various regions of Enceladus to find the effective elastic thickness of the ice shell and constrain temporal and spatial variations in heat flux. We find paleo-heat fluxes of 60-≥350 mWm−2, with most clustered around 125-200 mWm−2. Present day measured heat fluxes at the South Polar Terrain (SPT) are comparable to our estimated paleo-heat fluxes in non-SPT regions. Our paleo-heat fluxes, however, are significantly higher than the corresponding present day heat fluxes for the same locations inferred from shell thickness maps. This suggests that regions outside the SPT experienced a past episode of heating (heat fluxes in excess of 100mWm−2) followed by a cooling and thickening ice shell. A relatively constant paleo-heat flux for terrains of different ages (determined from crater densities) supports the "resonance locking" hypothesis of dissipation in Saturn and might imply a long-lived resonance between Enceladus and Dione. Our results suggest that Enceladus's tidal heating appears to have been consistent over time. Consistent peak heating at Enceladus could support a long-lived subsurface ocean, which has important consequences for astrobiology and the habitability of the outer solar system.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{eakins2026paleoheat,
title = {{Paleo-heat flux estimates across Enceladus derived from flexural response of the ice shell}},
author = {Chelsea Eakins and Francis Nimmo and Paul Schenk},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.19242},
eprint = {2610.19242},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19242},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Paleo-heat flux estimates across Enceladus derived from flexural response of the ice shell
AU - Chelsea Eakins
AU - Francis Nimmo
AU - Paul Schenk
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.19242
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19242
AB - Saturn's moon Enceladus has active plumes suggestive of locally high heat fluxes at present, and the present-day heating is reasonably well characterized. However, the moon's thermal history is not well understood. In this study, we model flexural deformation of chasmata and dorsae in various regions of Enceladus to find the effective elastic thickness of the ice shell and constrain temporal and spatial variations in heat flux. We find paleo-heat fluxes of 60-≥350 mWm^−2, with most clustered around 125-200 mWm^−2. Present day measured heat fluxes at the South Polar Terrain (SPT) are comparable to our estimated paleo-heat fluxes in non-SPT regions. Our paleo-heat fluxes, however, are significantly higher than the corresponding present day heat fluxes for the same locations inferred from shell thickness maps. This suggests that regions outside the SPT experienced a past episode of heating (heat fluxes in excess of 100mWm^−2) followed by a cooling and thickening ice shell. A relatively constant paleo-heat flux for terrains of different ages (determined from crater densities) supports the "resonance locking" hypothesis of dissipation in Saturn and might imply a long-lived resonance between Enceladus and Dione. Our results suggest that Enceladus's tidal heating appears to have been consistent over time. Consistent peak heating at Enceladus could support a long-lived subsurface ocean, which has important consequences for astrobiology and the habitability of the outer solar system.
ER -