Inductive response of Enceladus' ice shell and potentially stratified ocean
Author(s)
Wivell, L
Dougherty, MK
Masters, A
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Saturn's moon Enceladus harbors a global subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust. Understanding the structure and composition of this ocean and ice is critical to assessing its potential habitability. Modern electromagnetic (EM) sounding techniques, which measure a celestial body's induced response to external electromagnetic fields, offer a powerful tool for probing internal structures. These techniques are well-established for Earth and the Moon, modeled for Europa, and here evaluated for Enceladus. By modeling higher frequency range (1 mHz−1 kHz), which sound to shallower depths than lower frequencies, this study shows that induction can provide a constraint on ice composition. The induced response also gives insight into other ice-shell properties, including potential water layers, as well as different stratified ocean conditions. The findings of this study highlight the potential for future missions to use EM sounding to constrain properties of the ice-shell, including composition, as well as identifying potential ocean stratification.
Date Issued
2026-02-01
Date Acceptance
2026-01-22
Citation
Earth and Space Science, 2026, 13 (2)
ISSN
2333-5084
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Journal / Book Title
Earth and Space Science
Volume
13
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2026. The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e2025EA004609
Date Publish Online
2026-02-09