New research: Tianwei may once have had a huge ocean as deep as 160 kilometers

According to new research published in the journal Icarus, Uranus's moon Ariel may have had an underground ocean about 100 miles (about 170 kilometers) deep. This research brings new breakthroughs in understanding the internal structure of icy satellites in the outer solar system.

By analyzing the geological structure and stress distribution on the surface of Tianwei, scientists found that its complex landforms may be related to strong tidal forces in history. The surface of Tianobis has a large number of craters and plains formed by low-temperature volcanism, and large-scale faults, ridges and subsidence zones are also visible. These geological features prompted the research team to further explore its internal and orbital evolution.

Alex Patthoff, one of the authors of the paper and a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, said, "Uma is extremely unique among icy satellites. Combining surface observations and computer simulations, we reproduced the distortion process of its crust by tidal gravity, and based on this, we can infer its historical orbital eccentricity and the thickness of its ocean."

Research shows that the orbital eccentricity of Tianwei in the past was about 0.04, which is 40 times higher than the current one. This change causes it to generate strong tidal stress under Uranus' gravity, enough to crack its icy crust. The formation of this structure requires a sizable underground ocean as a prerequisite.

In addition, the team conducted similar research on Miranda, another moon of Uranus, last year and also concluded that there is a deep ocean. This series of results shows that there may be "twin ocean worlds" in the Uranus system.

Tom Nordheim, a co-author of the paper and a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, pointed out, "Currently we have only imaged the southern hemispheres of Uranus and Miranda. Future detectors may find more geological evidence in the unimaged northern hemisphere. We urgently need to return to Uranus and conduct detailed detection of these icy satellites."

It is not yet certain how long this deep ocean has existed, but this study provides an important reference for future exploration of the history of the ocean in the outer solar system and assessment of its potential habitability.

Compiled from /ScitechDaily