Date
Fri, 19 May 2023
Time
14:00 - 15:00
Location
L4
Speaker
Hamish Hay
Organisation
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

The giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, all host several satellites that contain vast liquid water reservoirs beneath their frozen surfaces. These Ocean Worlds and some of the most compelling targets for future exploration of the solar system due to their potential for hosting habitable subsurface environments. The internal dynamics of these bodies is, as yet, largely unknown.

A key process that shapes the internal and orbital evolution of these systems is tides and the resultant dissipation of heat. I will review how these global ocean’s dynamically respond to the tide-generating potentials that are relevant in tightly-packed planetary systems, including the physics and mathematical techniques used to model global tidal flow. Oceanic dissipation rates due to tides will be estimated, including the effect of a thick global ice layer above the ocean and tides raised by neighbouring moons. I will end on recent work regarding the generation of weak mean flows via periodic tidal forcing.

Last updated on 11 May 2023, 8:11pm. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page.