Igneous processes in the small bodies of the Solar System I. Asteroids and comets

Igneous processes in the small bodies of the Solar System II: Small satellites and dwarf planets

“…At last, the possible presence of olivine was inferred in Haumea’s 11 and Sedna’s 12 interiors from theoretical modeling. We have already seen in the previous work by Leone and Tanaka 1 that the presence of olivine alone is not the “smoking gun” for past igneous and/or volcanic processes, as it could be recycled from the interstellar medium (ISM), but if it is present combined with the suite of minerals typical of igneous rocks (i.e., pyroxenes, feldspars) with the possible presence of volcanic features or lava flows, well, then it becomes a possible evidence in such a case. Igneous processes have also been postulated during the formation of Deimos and Phobos, 10 while possible cryovolcanism on Charon, 13 Miranda, 14 , 15 120347 Salacia and Orcus, 16 Quaoar, 17 and Sedna 12 has been reported.…”

“…However, other small satellites of the Solar System were characterized by igneous processes in the past although they appear not active anymore. As we have seen with asteroids, due to the widespread distribution of 26 Al 1 in the protoplanetary disk, almost every small body of the Solar System has been characterized by igneous processes at the initial time of its earliest formation. We will explore the thermal processes of the underrepresented small satellites and dwarf planets.…”

“…Following the previous work by Leone and Tanaka 1 in which the igneous processes in asteroids and comets were reviewed, we have focused this work on the small satellites and dwarf planets of the Solar System that are still quite underrepresented in the available literature. We deem those bodies like Io and Enceladus have already been well covered also thanks to dedicated missions like Galileo and Cassini, but other small bodies have not received the same attention even though some spacecraft or ground-based data are available.…”

“…Once again, we distinguish igneous processes from volcanism, the former being not specifically associated with eruptive activity but merely with heating. 1 Thus, igneous processes can be caused by any source that is able to produce heat. The typical heating sources present at the beginning of the history of our Solar System were already discussed in the previous paper (Leone and Tanaka 1 ), but we will briefly resume them here as well: impact, accretion and differentiation, tidal interaction (where available), and radiogenic decay.…”

“… 1 Thus, igneous processes can be caused by any source that is able to produce heat. The typical heating sources present at the beginning of the history of our Solar System were already discussed in the previous paper (Leone and Tanaka 1 ), but we will briefly resume them here as well: impact, accretion and differentiation, tidal interaction (where available), and radiogenic decay. These heating sources have contributed to generate igneous processes in various small bodies of the Solar System but not volcanism everywhere.…”