Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5487019 Icarus 2017 30 Pages PDF
Abstract
Here we report the discovery of a global series of topographic lows on Saturn's satellite Enceladus that we interpret to show that this synchronously locked moon has undergone TPW by ∼55° about the tidal axis. We use improved topographic data from the spherical harmonic expansion of Cassini limb and stereogrammetric measurements to characterize regional topography over the surface of Enceladus. We identify a group of nearly antipodal basins orthogonal to a basin chain tracing a non-equatorial circumglobal belt across Enceladus' surface. We argue that the belt and the antipodal regions are fossil remnants of earlier equator and poles, respectively. We argue that these lows arise from isostasic compensation and that their pattern reflects spatial variations in internal dynamics of the ice shell. Our hypothesis is consistent with a variety of geological features visible in Cassini images.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Space and Planetary Science
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