Publication Date:
2019-06-28
Description:
On the basis of laboratory-derived data on the ion erosion of water and ammonia ices, it is suggested that the surfaces of the Saturnian satellites Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea could have become enriched with water ice over a reasonable geological time period owing to the preferential erosion of the ammonia by magnetosphere ion bombardment. This mechanism serves as an alternative explanation to other processes invoked for the absence of ammonia spectral features in these satellites.
Keywords:
LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Type:
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836); 312; 139
Format:
text