Posted on 04/14/2015 8:26:16 AM PDT by fishtank
Saturn's Enceladus Looks Younger than Ever
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
The more we learn about Enceladus, the younger it looks. Stated another way, the more that our space probes discover about this fascinating little moon that inhabits Saturn's tenuous E ring, the more challenging it becomes for conventional origins to explain. A new discovery adds to the list of young-looking Enceladus features.
The most stunning feature of Saturn's sixth largest moon is undoubtedly its water-ice plumes. The Cassini spacecraft passed by Enceladus several times in 2005 and captured amazing images of these continuous jets. They discharge material and send about a dozen plumes tens of miles into space from the moon's south pole.1 Enceladus, which would span the breadth of Arizona if it were placed on Earth, simply does not have enough material in it to supply these plumes for 4.5 billion years—it's physically impossible. A NASA article written in 2008 revealed no new answers, saying, "What causes and controls the jets is a mystery."2
(Excerpt) Read more at icr.org ...
It's not this ensalada.
Here's a Saturn ensalada plate.
The old earthers have been wrong for about 150 years now.
It’s younger than ever?................Must be it’s salad days..........
I bought a Saturn Enceladus once, but it kept wearing out fuel pumps.
Indeed. Hundreds of holes in their theories.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063314002918
This is the abstract:
Thermal history of Enceladus is investigated from the beginning of accretion to formation of its core (~400 My). We consider model with solid state convection (in a solid layer) as well as liquid state convection (in molten parts of the satellite).
The numerical model of convection uses full conservative finite difference method. The roles of two modes of convection are considered using the parameterized theory of convection.
The following heat sources are included: short lived and long lived radioactive isotopes, accretion, serpentinization, and phase changes.
Heat transfer processes are: conduction, solid state convection, and liquid state convection. It is found that core formation was completed only when liquid state convection had slowed down. Eventually, the porous core with pores filled with water was formed.
Recent data concerning gravity field of Enceladus confirm low density of the core.
We investigated also thermal history for different values of the following parameters: time of beginning of accretion tini, duration of accretion tacr, viscosity of ice close to the melting point ηm, activation energy in formula for viscosity E, thermal conductivity of silicate component ksil, ammonia content XNH3, and energy of serpentinization cserp.
All these parameters are important for evolution, but not dramatic differences are found for realistic values. Moreover, the hypothesis of proto-Enceladus (stating that initially Enceladus was substantially larger) is considered and thermal history of such body is calculated.
The last subject is the Mimas-Enceladus paradox. Comparison of thermal models of Mimas and Enceladus indicates that period favorable for ‘excited path of evolution’ was significantly shorter for Mimas than for Enceladus.
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Hey Joe, where you going with that Caesar salad in your hand?
This all presupposes that Enceladus was formed where it currently resides and at the same time as Saturn.
A more plausible explanation is that it was formed somewhere else, such as the Kuiper Belt, moved, and was captured by Saturn’s gravitational field more recently.
Oh, for crips sake. It’s geologically active giving it young surface areas. It may eventually expell enough material to cause the activity to stop. The earth also is continually producing young rock through tectonic forces. The oldest rock formations are some 3.8 byo with zircon 4.4 byo. Nothing yet existing in the crust goes 4.5 by. The oldest ocean floors are a mere 200 myo.
Jupiter’s moon Io has a similar, young crust due to intense volcanism.
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