spacetoday.net: Cassini data points to subsurface ocean on Enceladus

Cassini data points to subsurface ocean on Enceladus

Posted: Thu, Jun 23, 2011, 7:08 AM ET (1108 GMT)
Enceladus plumes (NASA/JPL)

Scientists analyzing the composition of plumes ejected from Saturn's moon Enceladus report this week that the likely source of the plumes is an ocean of liquid water below the moon's surface. In a paper published in the latest issue of the journal Nature, scientists said they detected relatively large grains of sodium and potassium in the lower portion of plumes rising from the moon's icy surface. The existence and composition of those plumes, they conclude, can be best explained if there is a layer of liquid water as much as 80 kilometers thick below the surface; the water dissolves sodium and potassium in rocks and carries them towards the surface, where they are ejected in the plumes.