TY - JOUR
T1 - Constraints on Europa's rotational dynamics from modeling of tidally-driven fractures
AU - Rhoden, Alyssa Rose
AU - Militzer, Burkhard
AU - Huff, Eric M.
AU - Hurford, Terry A.
AU - Manga, Michael
AU - Richards, Mark A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank J. Bernstein at Penguin Computing for use of computational resources, two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, and the NAI and NESSF programs for funding this work.
Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Cycloids, arcuate features observed on Europa's surface, have been interpreted as tensile cracks that form in response to diurnal tidal stress caused by Europa's orbital eccentricity. Stress from non-synchronous rotation may also contribute to tidal stress, and its influence on cycloid shapes has been investigated as well. Obliquity, fast precession, and physical libration would contribute to tidal stress but have often been neglected because they were expected to be negligibly small. However, more sophisticated analyses that include the influence of Jupiter's other large satellites and the state of Europa's interior indicate that perhaps these rotational parameters are large enough to alter the tidal stress field and the formation of tidally-driven fractures. We test tidal models that include obliquity, fast precession, stress due to non-synchronous rotation, and physical libration by comparing how well each model reproduces observed cycloids. To do this, we have designed and implemented an automated parameter-searching algorithm that relies on a quantitative measure of fit quality, which we use to identify the best fits to observed cycloids. We then apply statistical techniques to determine the tidal model best supported by the data. By incorporating obliquity, fits to observed southern hemisphere cycloids improve, and we can reproduce equatorial and equator-crossing cycloids. Furthermore, we find that obliquity plus physical libration is the tidal model best supported by the data. With this model, the obliquities range from 0.32° to 1.35° The libration amplitudes are 0.72-2.44°, and the libration phases are -6.04° to 17.72° with one outlier at 84.5° The variability in obliquity is expected if Europa's ice shell is mechanically decoupled from the interior, and the libration amplitudes are plausible in the presence of a subsurface ocean. Indeed, the presence of a decoupling ocean may result in feedbacks that cause all of these rotational parameters to become time-variable.
AB - Cycloids, arcuate features observed on Europa's surface, have been interpreted as tensile cracks that form in response to diurnal tidal stress caused by Europa's orbital eccentricity. Stress from non-synchronous rotation may also contribute to tidal stress, and its influence on cycloid shapes has been investigated as well. Obliquity, fast precession, and physical libration would contribute to tidal stress but have often been neglected because they were expected to be negligibly small. However, more sophisticated analyses that include the influence of Jupiter's other large satellites and the state of Europa's interior indicate that perhaps these rotational parameters are large enough to alter the tidal stress field and the formation of tidally-driven fractures. We test tidal models that include obliquity, fast precession, stress due to non-synchronous rotation, and physical libration by comparing how well each model reproduces observed cycloids. To do this, we have designed and implemented an automated parameter-searching algorithm that relies on a quantitative measure of fit quality, which we use to identify the best fits to observed cycloids. We then apply statistical techniques to determine the tidal model best supported by the data. By incorporating obliquity, fits to observed southern hemisphere cycloids improve, and we can reproduce equatorial and equator-crossing cycloids. Furthermore, we find that obliquity plus physical libration is the tidal model best supported by the data. With this model, the obliquities range from 0.32° to 1.35° The libration amplitudes are 0.72-2.44°, and the libration phases are -6.04° to 17.72° with one outlier at 84.5° The variability in obliquity is expected if Europa's ice shell is mechanically decoupled from the interior, and the libration amplitudes are plausible in the presence of a subsurface ocean. Indeed, the presence of a decoupling ocean may result in feedbacks that cause all of these rotational parameters to become time-variable.
KW - Europa
KW - Rotational dynamics
KW - Tectonics
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U2 - 10.1016/j.icarus.2010.07.018
DO - 10.1016/j.icarus.2010.07.018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78049528697
SN - 0019-1035
VL - 210
SP - 770
EP - 784
JO - Icarus
JF - Icarus
IS - 2
ER -