Chem Seminar 11/1/24

Friday, November 01, 12:30 PM to 01:20 PM PDT

Location: MSB 123

Speaker: Fabian Klenner and Lucas Fifer

Title: Exploring a Habitable Ocean Beyond Earth

Affiliation: UW ESS

Abstract: Saturn’s moon Enceladus harbors the best characterized liquid water ocean beyond Earth. Enceladus emits into space a plume composed of gases and ice grains that originate from a subsurface ocean, making the subsurface material accessible for analysis by spacecraft. The Cassini mission determined that the ocean is likely alkaline and rich in chemistry, containing salts, a variety of organics and hydrogen cyanide.

The composition of the emitted gases and ice grains can be analyzed in some detail, but only little is known about the evolution of the moon’s ocean, the interior processes leading to the formation of the emitted material, and the precise relationship between the ocean and plume chemistry. We here present an overview of Enceladus and the moon’s habitable ocean. We then describe our ongoing experimental and modeling efforts to better understand the evolution of this intriguing ocean as well as the formation of gaseous and icy material that is emitted into space by the moon’s plume.