Production by ion sputtering of ammonia-depleted surface layers on the Saturian satellites.
01 January 1984
The plains of Euceladus (as well as Dione, Rhea, and Tethys) in the Saturn system are thought to be produced by a "magma", such as 2H2O.NH3 eutecic melt. We suggest, on the basis of laboratory-derived data on the ion erosion of water and ammonia ices, that the satellite surfaces could become enriched with water ice over reasonable geologic time (10(6)-10(9)yrs) because of preferential erosion of the ammonia by magnetosphere ion bombardment.