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High-speed jets from giant ice fissures on Saturn's moon Enceladus feed a large plume (an ice volcano in space!), which is of interest to scientists because it contains salts and organic compounds, which are evidence of a subsurface liquid water ocean that may possibly host life. However, it is unclear how the composition of the plume might be altered as this material moves from the ocean into space, and to what extent samples from the plume are representative of ocean composition. We have proposed a new eruption model where dissolved gas molecules expand, form bubbles, and drive the mixture into space, which is similar to explosive volcanoes on Earth and essentially the same mechanism that causes cans of soda to explode upon opening if shaken.

Are you interested in modeling the fluid mechanics and eruption mechanism for the Enceladus plume (the "cryovolcano" erupting at the Southern pole of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn)? If so, the Rabinovitch Research Group at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) is looking for students who are interested in pursuing a PhD on this topic. This project will be in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI). Please contact Prof. Rabinovitch if you would like to learn more about this opportunity, and more detailed information about the Enceladus plume eruption model can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JE007977.

Note that contacting Prof. Rabinovitch is not a formal application to the graduate program at Stevens Institute of Technology. This posting is for informational purposes only, and does not constitute a formal job posting. Interested applicants should reach out to Prof. Rabinovitch via email to receive more details about this project.