{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/159901"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/159901","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Modeling Non-Rotational Ocean Circulation and Heat Distribution in Icy Moons","abstract":"Subsurface oceans beneath the ice shells of icy moons like Europa and Enceladus are considered promising environments for extraterrestrial life. Their long-term habitability depends on internal heating and efficient vertical heat transport to maintain liquid water beneath the surface. This study models vertical heat diffusion in a non-rotating ocean column to investigate thermal structure and energy balance in such systems. A one-dimensional numerical simulation was developed using temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and fixed Dirichlet boundary conditions, initialized with a linear temperature gradient from −10 K at the surface to +10 K at the base. Over 1000 time steps, the temperature profile became nonlinear, with a kink indicating the transition from ice to water. Despite fixed boundary temperatures, the interior warmed, and the average temperature rose to 2.84 K. This resulted from asymmetric conductivity: efficient heating from below and slow heat loss through the upper ice. These results illustrate how conductivity structure controls thermal evolution and ice shell stability on ocean worlds.","abstract_html":"Subsurface oceans beneath the ice shells of icy moons like Europa and Enceladus are considered promising environments for extraterrestrial life. Their long-term habitability depends on internal heating and efficient vertical heat transport to maintain liquid water beneath the surface. This study models vertical heat diffusion in a non-rotating ocean column to investigate thermal structure and energy balance in such systems. A one-dimensional numerical simulation was developed using temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and fixed Dirichlet boundary conditions, initialized with a linear temperature gradient from −10 K at the surface to +10 K at the base. Over 1000 time steps, the temperature profile became nonlinear, with a kink indicating the transition from ice to water. Despite fixed boundary temperatures, the interior warmed, and the average temperature rose to 2.84 K. This resulted from asymmetric conductivity: efficient heating from below and slow heat loss through the upper ice. These results illustrate how conductivity structure controls thermal evolution and ice shell stability on ocean worlds.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nath, Anika"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Bachelor","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Teague, Richard","Hill, Christopher N."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05","date_published":"2025-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:48Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"],"rights_urls":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/159901","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Teague, Richard","Hill, Christopher N."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nath, Anika"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-07-07T17:37:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-07-07T17:37:45Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-05"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Bachelor","Bachelor of Science in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/159901"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Subsurface oceans beneath the ice shells of icy moons like Europa and Enceladus are considered promising environments for extraterrestrial life. Their long-term habitability depends on internal heating and efficient vertical heat transport to maintain liquid water beneath the surface. This study models vertical heat diffusion in a non-rotating ocean column to investigate thermal structure and energy balance in such systems. A one-dimensional numerical simulation was developed using temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and fixed Dirichlet boundary conditions, initialized with a linear temperature gradient from −10 K at the surface to +10 K at the base. Over 1000 time steps, the temperature profile became nonlinear, with a kink indicating the transition from ice to water. Despite fixed boundary temperatures, the interior warmed, and the average temperature rose to 2.84 K. This resulted from asymmetric conductivity: efficient heating from below and slow heat loss through the upper ice. These results illustrate how conductivity structure controls thermal evolution and ice shell stability on ocean worlds."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.B."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Modeling Non-Rotational Ocean Circulation and Heat Distribution in Icy Moons"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Teague, Richard","Hill, Christopher N."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Nath, Anika"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-07-07T17:37:45Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-07-07T17:37:45Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["Subsurface oceans beneath the ice shells of icy moons like Europa and Enceladus are considered promising environments for extraterrestrial life. Their long-term habitability depends on internal heating and efficient vertical heat transport to maintain liquid water beneath the surface. This study models vertical heat diffusion in a non-rotating ocean column to investigate thermal structure and energy balance in such systems. A one-dimensional numerical simulation was developed using temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and fixed Dirichlet boundary conditions, initialized with a linear temperature gradient from −10 K at the surface to +10 K at the base. Over 1000 time steps, the temperature profile became nonlinear, with a kink indicating the transition from ice to water. Despite fixed boundary temperatures, the interior warmed, and the average temperature rose to 2.84 K. This resulted from asymmetric conductivity: efficient heating from below and slow heat loss through the upper ice. These results illustrate how conductivity structure controls thermal evolution and ice shell stability on ocean worlds."],"dc:description.degree":["S.B."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/159901"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"],"dc:rights.uri":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Modeling Non-Rotational Ocean Circulation and Heat Distribution in Icy Moons"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Bachelor","Bachelor of Science in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:48Z"}