Estimates for Tethys' Moment of Inertia, Heat Flux Distribution, and Interior Structure From Its Long‐Wavelength Topography

Abstract

AbstractWe examine if Saturn's moon Tethys may be an ocean world by assuming that spatial variations in tidal heating are responsible for thickness or temperature variations in an isostatic ice shell, which manifests as surface topography. Because patterns of tidal heating depend on average ice shell thickness and whether the shell overlies a rigid or liquid layer, we can use Tethys' long‐wavelength topography to infer its interior structure. We test a wide range of assumed parameters to hone in on the characteristics of Tethys that produce self‐consistent and physically plausible interior models. To verify our technique, we apply it to Enceladus and recover the signature of a sub‐surface global ocean with an appropriately thick ice shell and moment of inertia. Our best‐fit Tethys models require Pratt isostasy and obliquity tides, with a normalized moment of inertia 0.340–0.345 and an average surface heat flux 1–2 mW m−2. The best‐fit basal heat flux distribution indicates that Tethys does not have an ocean. The total power inferred (4–8 GW) to produce Tethys' shape from tidal heating indicates either a highly dissipative interior or an obliquity higher than previously estimated. The topography may also be a relic of a warmer past when the obliquity was higher.