Abstract EANA2024-183

The icy moon Enceladus, a satellite of Saturn, has emerged as a prime target for astrobiological exploration due to its internal hydrothermal activity and associated cryovolcanic eruptions. Understanding the porosity of Enceladus' interior is crucial for assessing its habitability potential, as porous networks could facilitate the transport of heat and nutrients essential for prebiotic reactions and potential microbial life. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the porosity of Enceladus' interior porosity using an experimentally derived method for planetary bodies. We carefully selected a set of boundary values for our initial parameters, drawing from measured porosity values of chondrite samples as references. Through this approach, we calculated the porosity-related properties of Enceladus and compared them to those of Earth and Mars for context.

Our results indicate that Enceladus has a porosity of approximately 5% at its center. The total pore volume for Enceladus is estimated to be 1.51 × 10^7 km^3, significantly lower than the values for Earth (2.11 × 10^8 km^3) and Mars (1.62 × 10^8 km^3). However, the pore surface area per unit surface area on Enceladus is notably higher, estimated to be 1.37 × 10^9 km^2 per 1 km^2 of surface area, compared to 5.07 × 10^7 km^2 per 1 km^2 for Earth. The relatively highly concentrated porosity and extensive pore surface area suggest that the interior of Enceladus may provide a favorable environment for potential prebiotic processes, facilitating the circulation of water, nutrients, chemical variability and other essential components. Furthermore, the porous network could play a crucial role in the transport of heat and energy, driving the observed hydrothermal activity and geyser eruptions. Improvements on the model are in current development, which incorporates the utilization of the viscous pore compaction method, that is able to account for the thermal state of the interior. The combined use of these models are expected to provide significantly improved results.

Our study highlights the importance of understanding the physical properties of icy moons, such as Enceladus, in the search for extraterrestrial life. The detailed porosity calculations presented here contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Enceladus' interior structure and its potential to host habitable environments.