Apm: basic version of the page

2020-11-04T12:32:26Z

basic version of the page

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There are a number of places in our solar system where subsurface oceans are expected.
In some cases there might be more or less [[cryovolcanism]] present which
many or may not provide access channels all the way down to the subsurface oceans.
where a research probe or (even a crewed submarine) may or may not fit through.

== High pressures in these oceans ==

Despite the low gravities of these bodies the great depth of the upper end of these subsurface oceans
causes a great deal of pressure which may not be easily handelable for some of the bodies.<br>
{{todo|add some minimum depth and pressure estimations to give some perspective}}<br>
{{todo|add some temperature estimates too}}

[[cryovolcanism|Cryovlocanic channels and "magma" chambers]] might be easier way accessible than directly melting through through the icy crust.
Also these would be more interesting for human colonization.

=== APM's high pressure suitability ===

Note that deep-sea probes built with [[advanced APM]] will be able to handle tremendously higher pressures than what is possible with today's (2020) technology.
(See: [[High pressure]]s). It might get to the point where one needs to think about avoiding crystal structures of the probe being crushed rather than rather than internal voids being crushed.
There is much less heat in many of the bodies of interest than when going down in depth on Earth.
And extreme heat is the bigger problem for [[advanced AP systems]].
Also there is massive temperature equilibration in an open body of water.
At the depth of the Mariana Trench but under land it is way hotter than just 4°C due to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_gradient geothermal gradient] that is not present in water.

== List of bodies with potential subsurface oceans ==

'''mars'''
* Well, not an ocean but some "small" lakes under thick ice sheets have been confirmed.

'''Asteroid belt:'''
* Ceres -- it does not visually obviously look like it but there are wight salt spots (and a strange young mountain) proving [[cryovolcanism]]

'''Moons of Jupiter:'''
* Europa -- Probably the best bet to find one. It has by far the youngest surface. It literally looks like ice on an ocean.
* Ganymede -- visually its in-between Europa and Kallisto
* Kallisto -- It's quite heavily crated and does not visually look like it's harbouring a subsurface ocean <br>{{todo|find out what's the water ice to siclicate rock ratio on Kallistos surface}}

'''Moons of Saturn:'''
* Titan -- it visually doe not look like it but instruments tell otherwise {{wiki-todo|further investigate knowns about titans hypothetical subsurface ocean}}
* Enceladus -- huge water ice plumes from cracks confirmed

'''Moons of Neptune:'''
* Triton -- gysirs confirmed.

* Pluto and Charon? -- It seems like there is some large scale some nitrogen ice convection going. There may be some cryocolcanism involved. We don't know.

Subsurface ocean - Revision history

Apm: basic version of the page