[PAOCQ] Wanying Kang (MIT)

“From ice to the ocean: geophysical fluid dynamics in icy moon oceans”

Icy moon oceans are promising targets in the search for extraterrestrial life, yet characterizing their internal dynamics remains challenging because most oceanic processes are hidden beneath the overlying ice shell. In contrast, the ice shell itself is comparatively accessible to observation and may therefore provide a window into the ocean below. As a liquid layer, the subsurface ocean transports heat and momentum, influencing the ice shell in potentially observable ways.

In this talk, I will focus on how variations in ice thickness can be used to infer ocean heat transport, and thereby constrain the partitioning of heat production among the ice shell, ocean, and silicate core—the primary factor controlling ocean circulation. Using Enceladus as an example, I will show that sustaining the observed ice thickness profile requires that the majority of the heating (on the order of 10 GW) occur within the ice shell, in contrast to most existing models of ice-shell dissipation.

PAOC Colloquium —

Interdisciplinary seminar series that brings together the whole PAOC (Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate) community. Seminar topics include all research concerning the physics, chemistry, and biology of the atmospheres, oceans and climate, as well as talks about societal impacts of climatic processes.

Contact: paoc-colloquium-comm@mit.edu