New Research Reveals Boiling Oceans on Icy Moons May Support Life

New research from geophysicist Maxwell Rudolph at the University of California, Davis, reveals that icy moons in our solar system, such as Saturn's Enceladus, may harbor boiling oceans beneath their icy shells.

This study builds on previous findings that some of these moons possess subsurface oceans situated between their ice shells and rocky cores. A critical aspect of this research is the examination of what happens to these moons when their icy shells thin due to melting from below.

The team discovered that when the ice shells of smaller moons, like Mimas and Enceladus, thin by approximately three to nine miles, the pressure on the oceans decreases sufficiently to reach a 'triple point'—a specific temperature and pressure combination where ice, liquid water, and water vapor coexist.

This condition can lead to boiling of the ocean layers closest to the ice shell, but notably, this boiling occurs at temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius, rather than the boiling point of water at 100 degrees Celsius.

Rudolph emphasized that life forms located below this boiling point could continue to exist unaffected. In contrast, larger icy moons, such as Titania of Uranus, may experience cracking in their ice shells before reaching the triple point, preventing boiling in these cases.

The research also suggests that gases released from boiling oceans could form complex structures known as clathrates. Future studies will focus on the behavior of these gases once released and the potential surface features that could develop as a result.

This research significantly expands the potential sites for extraterrestrial life within our solar system, raising hopes for discoveries in the hidden oceans of icy moons.