Artist's concept showing a cross-section of the ice shell beneath one of Enceladus' "tiger stripe" fractures, from which geysers of water vapor and ice blast into space.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Do the geysers originate near the surface due to friction between different pieces of the crust? Or do they originate from deep within the crust from the salty "ocean." below it?
Because the geysers erupt from specific vents, it is more likely that they arise from deep beneath the crust.
I understand why scientists have called these geysers. They are mostly made up of water.
However, they seem to be more analogous to our volcanoes: Molten fluid from deep in the crust or below it. A vent traveling through the solid of that liquid. The fluid then venting onto the surface, hardening, and becoming a part of that surface.
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