Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Boiling oceans and compressional tectonics on emerging ocean worlds

Nature Astronomy volume 10, pages 76–83 (2026)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Several of the icy satellites in the outer Solar System have or had an ocean underneath their ice-covered surfaces. As the ice shell changes thickness, the volume change that accompanies the phase transition between liquid water and solid ice creates stresses in the ice shell and changes the pressure in the underlying ocean. A thinning ice shell develops compressive stresses within the cold, elastic ice near the surface, and the pressure in the ocean decreases. Here we show that ice-shell thinning can lead to two possible outcomes, depending on the size of the icy body. For the smallest icy bodies, such as Mimas, Enceladus and Miranda, the pressure may become low enough that water reaches the boiling temperature, generating buoyant water vapour and exsolved gases. Boiling conditions are reached while the compressive stresses are lower than the compressive strength of ice, which explains why an emerging (growing) ocean is compatible with a lack of compressive tectonic features on these worlds. For bodies larger than ~300 km radius, such as Titania and Iapetus, thinning of the ice shell by ~10% would lead to compressive failure, thus providing a driving mechanism for compressional tectonic features. Although the signature of ancient ocean development may be overprinted by later cratering, a lack of compressional features on larger worlds may rule out recent oceans.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Surfaces of icy satellites.
Fig. 2: Schematic of the model geometry.
Fig. 3: Regime diagram for boiling and compressive failure.
Fig. 4: Numerical models of thermal structure, stresses and ocean pressure.
Fig. 5: Possible fates of vapour and exsolved gases.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data necessary to reproduce the results in the paper are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17317041 (ref. 70). The planetary photomosaics shown in Fig. 1 can be found in the NASA Planetary Data System.

Code availability

The PISTES code is available via GitHub at http://github.com/maxrudolph/PISTES. All computer codes necessary to reproduce the results are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17317041 (ref. 70).

References

  1. Roth, L. et al. Transient water vapor at Europa’s South Pole. Science 343, 171–174 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Porco, C. C. et al. Cassini observes the active South Pole of Enceladus. Science 311, 1393–1401 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fagents, S. A., Lopes, R. M., Quick, L. C. & Gregg, T. K. in Planetary Volcanism across the Solar System (eds Gregg, T. K. P. et al) 161–234 (Elsevier, 2022).

  4. Hussmann, H. & Spohn, T. Thermal-orbital evolution of Io and Europa. Icarus 171, 391–410 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Showman, A. P., Stevenson, D. J. & Malhotra, R. Coupled orbital and thermal evolution of Ganymede. Icarus 129, 367–383 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tobie, G. et al. Tidal deformation and dissipation processes in icy worlds. Space Sci. Rev. 221, 6 (2025).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Moore, W. B. & Schubert, G. The tidal response of Europa. Icarus 147, 317–319 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kamata, S., Matsuyama, I. & Nimmo, F. Tidal resonance in icy satellites with subsurface oceans. J. Geophys. Res. E 120, 1528–1542 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Manga, M. & Wang, C.-Y. Pressurized oceans and the eruption of liquid water on Europa and Enceladus. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L07202 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Beuthe, M. Spatial patterns of tidal heating. Icarus 223, 308–329 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Běhounková, M., Tobie, G., Choblet, G. & Čadek, O. Tidally-induced melting events as the origin of South-Pole activity on Enceladus. Icarus 219, 655–664 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nimmo, F. Stresses generated in cooling viscoelastic ice shells: application to Europa. J. Geophys. Res. E 109, E12001 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Rudolph, M. L., Manga, M., Walker, M. & Rhoden, A. R. Cooling crusts create concomitant cryovolcanic cracks. Geophys. Res. Lett. 49, e2021GL094421 (2022).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Rhoden, A. R., Walker, M. E., Rudolph, M. L., Bland, M. T. & Manga, M. The evolution of a young ocean within Mimas. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 635, 118689 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rhoden, A. R., Rudolph, M. L. & Manga, M. The challenges of driving Charon’s cryovolcanism from a freezing ocean. Icarus 392, 115391 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Tajeddine, R. et al. Constraints on Mimas’ interior from Cassini ISS libration measurements. Science 346, 322–324 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Lainey, V. et al. A recently formed ocean inside Saturn’s moon Mimas. Nature 626, 280–282 (2024).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Baillié, K., Noyelles, B., Lainey, V., Charnoz, S. & Tobie, G. Formation of the Cassini Division. I. Shaping the rings by Mimas inward migration. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 486, 2933–2946 (2019).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Noyelles, B., Baillié, K., Charnoz, S., Lainey, V. & Tobie, G. Formation of the Cassini Division. II. Possible histories of Mimas and Enceladus. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 486, 2947–2963 (2019).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Strom, C., Nordheim, T. A., Patthoff, D. A. & Fieber-Beyer, S. K. Constraining ocean and ice shell thickness on Miranda from surface geological structures and stress modeling. Planet. Sci. J. 5, 226 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hemingway, D. J. & Mittal, T. Enceladus’s ice shell structure as a window on internal heat production. Icarus 332, 111–131 (2019).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Fuller, J., Luan, J. & Quataert, E. Resonance locking as the source of rapid tidal migration in the Jupiter and Saturn moon systems. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 458, 3867–3879 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Tobie, G., Čadek, O. & Sotin, C. Solid tidal friction above a liquid water reservoir as the origin of the South Pole hotspot on Enceladus. Icarus 196, 642–652 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Meyer, J. & Wisdom, J. Tidal heating in Enceladus. Icarus 188, 535–539 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. McKinnon, W. B. & Schenk, P. Is Mimas hollow? In Proc. AGU Fall Meeting P32A-05 (American Geophysical Union, 2024); https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1707025

  26. McKinnon, W. B. & Schenk, P. Is Mimas a Dyson satellite? The fate of small melting moons. In Proc. 56th Lunar Planetary Science Conference 2897 (USRA, 2025); https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/2897.pdf

  27. Hemingway, D. J., Rudolph, M. L. & Manga, M. Cascading parallel fractures on Enceladus. Nat. Astron. 4, 234–239 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Arakawa, M. & Maeno, N. Mechanical strength of polycrystalline ice under uniaxial compression. Cold Reg. Sci. Technol. 26, 215–229 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Jones, S. J. The confined compressive strength of polycrystalline ice. J. Glaciol. 28, 171–178 (1982).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Schulson, E. M. Brittle failure of ice. Eng. Fract. Mech. 68, 1839–1887 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Potter, R. S., Cammack, J. M., Braithwaite, C. H., Church, P. D. & Walley, S. M. A study of the compressive mechanical properties of defect-free, porous and sintered water-ice at low and high strain rates. Icarus 351, 113940 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Schulson, E. M. & Renshaw, C. E. Fracture, friction, and permeability of ice. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 50, 323–343 (2022).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Cochrane, C. J., Vance, S. D., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Styczinski, M. J. & Liuzzo, L. Stronger evidence of a subsurface ocean within Callisto from a multifrequency investigation of its induced magnetic field. AGU Adv. 6, e2024AV001237 (2025).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Nagel, K., Breuer, D. & Spohn, T. A model for the interior structure, evolution, and differentiation of Callisto. Icarus 169, 402–412 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  35. Hillier, J. & Squyres, S. W. Thermal stress tectonics on the satellites of Saturn and Uranus. J. Geophys. Res. E 96, 15665–15674 (1991).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. Hurford, T. A., Helfenstein, P., Hoppa, G. V., Greenberg, R. & Bills, B. G. Eruptions arising from tidally controlled periodic openings of rifts on Enceladus. Nature 447, 292–294 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. Ingersoll, A. P. & Nakajima, M. Controlled boiling on Enceladus. 2. Model of the liquid-filled cracks. Icarus 272, 319–326 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. Zhu, P., Manucharyan, G. E., Thompson, A. F., Goodman, J. C. & Vance, S. D. The influence of meridional ice transport on Europa’s ocean stratification and heat content. Geophys. Res. Lett. 44, 5969–5977 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. Shibley, N. C. & Laughlin, G. Do oceanic convection and clathrate dissociation drive Europa’s geysers? Planet. Sci. J. 2, 221 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Mitchell, K. L., Rabinovitch, J., Scamardella, J. C. & Cable, M. L. A proposed model for cryovolcanic activity on Enceladus driven by volatile exsolution. J. Geophys. Res. E 129, e2023JE007977 (2024).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Matson, D. L., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Davies, A. G. & Johnson, T. V. Enceladus: a hypothesis for bringing both heat and chemicals to the surface. Icarus 221, 53–62 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. Crawford, G. D. & Stevenson, D. J. Gas-driven water volcanism in the resurfacing of Europa. Icarus 73, 66–79 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. Rudolph, M. L. & Manga, M. Fracture penetration in planetary ice shells. Icarus 199, 536–541 (2009).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. Buffo, J. J., Meyer, C. R. & Parkinson, J. R. G. Dynamics of a solidifying icy satellite shell. J. Geophys. Res. E 126, e2020JE006741 (2021).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  45. Buffo, J. J., Schmidt, B. E., Huber, C. & Meyer, C. R. Characterizing the ice-ocean interface of icy worlds: a theoretical approach. Icarus 360, 114318 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Turcotte, D. L. & Schubert, G. Geodynamics 2nd edn (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002).

  47. Shoji, D., Hussmann, H., Sohl, F. & Kurita, K. Non-steady state tidal heating of Enceladus. Icarus 235, 75–85 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  48. Goldreich, P., Lithwick, Y. & Luan, J. Enceladus’s limit cycle. Astrophys. J. 992, 28 (2025).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  49. Greenberg, R. et al. in Uranus (eds Bergstralh, J. T. et al.) 693–735 (Univ. Arizona Press, 1991).

  50. Pappalardo, R. T., Reynolds, S. J. & Greeley, R. Extensional tilt blocks on Miranda: evidence for an upwelling origin of Arden Corona. J. Geophys. Res. E 102, 13369–13379 (1997).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  51. Hammond, N. P. & Barr, A. C. Global resurfacing of Uranus’s moon Miranda by convection. Geology 42, 931–934 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. Tittemore, W. C. & Wisdom, J. Tidal evolution of the Uranian satellites. II. An explanation of the anomalously high orbital inclination of Miranda. Icarus 78, 63–89 (1989).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  53. Croft, S. & Soderblom, L. in Uranus (eds Bergstralh, J. T. et al.) 561–628 (Univ. Arizona Press, 1991).

  54. Hussmann, H., Sohl, F. & Spohn, T. Subsurface oceans and deep interiors of medium-sized outer planet satellites and large trans-Neptunian objects. Icarus 185, 258–273 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  55. Bierson, C. J. & Nimmo, F. A note on the possibility of subsurface oceans on the Uranian satellites. Icarus 373, 114776 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Beddingfield, C. B., Leonard, E. J., Nordheim, T. A., Cartwright, R. J. & Castillo-Rogez, J. C. Titania’s heat fluxes revealed by Messina Chasmata. Planet. Sci. J. 4, 211 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Porco, C. C. et al. Cassini imaging science: initial results on Phoebe and Iapetus. Science 307, 1237–1242 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  58. Giese, B. et al. The topography of Iapetus’ leading side. Icarus 193, 359–371 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  59. Ip, W.-H. On a ring origin of the equatorial ridge of Iapetus. Geophys. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL025386 (2006).

  60. Levison, H. F., Walsh, K. J., Barr, A. C. & Dones, L. Ridge formation and de-spinning of Iapetus via an impact-generated satellite. Icarus 214, 773–778 (2011).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  61. Dombard, A. J., Cheng, A. F., McKinnon, W. B. & Kay, J. P. Delayed formation of the equatorial ridge on Iapetus from a subsatellite created in a giant impact. J. Geophys. Res. E https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JE004010 (2012).

  62. Detelich, C. E., Byrne, P. K., Dombard, A. J. & Schenk, P. M. The morphology and age of the Iapetus equatorial ridge supports an exogenic origin. Icarus 367, 114559 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Stickle, A. M. & Roberts, J. H. Modeling an exogenic origin for the equatorial ridge on Iapetus. Icarus 307, 197–206 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  64. Sandwell, D. & Schubert, G. A contraction model for the flattening and equatorial ridge of Iapetus. Icarus 210, 817–822 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  65. Ćuk, M. et al. Long-term evolution of the Saturnian system. Space Sci. Rev. 220, 20 (2024).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  66. Castillo-Rogez, J. C. et al. Iapetus’ geophysics: rotation rate, shape, and equatorial ridge. Icarus 190, 179–202 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  67. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Origins, Worlds, and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032 (National Academies Press, 2023).

  68. Jaeger, J. C., Cook, N. G. & Zimmerman, R. Fundamentals of Rock Mechanics (Wiley, 2009).

  69. Petrenko, V. F. & Whitworth, R. W. Physics of Ice (Oxford Univ. Press, 1999).

    Google Scholar 

  70. Rudolph, M. & Rhoden, A. PISTES: planetary ice shell thermal evolution and stress. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17317041 (2025).

  71. Nimmo, F., Bierson, C. & McKinnon, W. B. Pluto and Triton: Interior Structures, Lithospheres and Potential for Oceans (IOP Publishing, 2025).

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is supported through the NASA Solar System Workings programme (Grant No. 80NSSC22K1379 to M.M. and M.L.R.). A.R.R. and M.W. are supported by NASA (Grant No. PSIE 80NSSC24K0399). M.L.R. thanks the Meierjurgen family for support. M.M. thanks the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Earth4D for further support. We thank C. Paty for helpful discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Maxwell L. Rudolph

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Maxwell L. Rudolph

  3. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Michael Manga

  4. Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA

    Alyssa R. Rhoden

  5. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Matthew Walker

Authors
  1. Maxwell L. Rudolph
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Manga
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alyssa R. Rhoden
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Matthew Walker
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the paper. M.L.R. and M.M. designed the project. M.L.R. performed the calculations. M.L.R., M.M. and A.R.R. wrote the original draft. M.L.R., M.M., A.R.R. and M.W. discussed the results and provided comments on the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maxwell L. Rudolph.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Astronomy thanks Gabriel Tobie, Steven Vance and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rudolph, M.L., Manga, M., Rhoden, A.R. et al. Boiling oceans and compressional tectonics on emerging ocean worlds. Nat Astron 10, 76–83 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02713-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02713-5

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing