Enceladus weather: Snow flurries and perfect powder for skiing

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Source:  Europlanet Press Notice EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 11/05
Excerpt: Global and high resolution mapping of Enceladus confirms that the weather forecast for Saturn's unique icy moon is set for ongoing snow flurries.  The superfine ice crystals that coat Enceladus's surface would make perfect powder for skiing, according to Dr Paul Schenk of the Lunar and Planetary Institute….The ghost-like features on the plains and the slope breaks on steep canyon walls are interpreted as due to the formation of a loose poorly-consolidated material lying on top of more solid crustal ices….  The layer is on average roughly 100 meters (350 feet or so) deep in this area.   …The models of plume deposition indicate that the rate of deposition on Enceladus is extremely slow by Earth standards, less than a thousandth of a millimetre per year.  To accumulate 100 meters of deposits would require a few tens of millions of years or so.  …Without replenishment, the E-ring formed by ejected plume particle would dissipate in hundreds to thousands of year. …Could we go skiing on Enceladus?….

 www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.php

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