Plumes of gas have been seen near the south polar region of Enceladus, a small icy satellite of Saturn, and observations revealed large rifts in the crust, informally called ‘tiger stripes’. Hurford et al. report that during each orbit, every portion of each tiger stripe rift spends about half the time in tension, which allows the rift to open, exposing volatiles, and allowing eruptions: plume activity is expected to vary periodically.
- T. A. Hurford
- P. Helfenstein
- B. G. Bills
