Abstract
The orbital history of Triton, coupled to its thermal evolution, and the
role played from obliquity tides [1, 2], together with the ongoing
geological activity [3] suggest a differentiated interior, with an
outer ice shell, a possible sub-surface ocean, and a deep-rocky
interior. Triton’s deep interior could be hydrated, as suggested for
other icy satellites, such as Titan [4, 5]. Antigorite (density:
2.5-2.6 g/cm3) is the most evocated mineral to explain the low estimated
average density of the deep interior of icy moons [5]. Nevertheless,
a model of a hydrated deep interior must consider the chemical
environment, the lithostatic pressure, and the internal temperature,
which define by their own the resulting mineral assemblages. Methods We
adopt the algorithm Perple_X [6] to produce a pseudosection
(Fig.1), modelling the stability fields of several mineral phases at
thermodynamical equilibrium, in the function of pressure (P) and
temperature (T). We select as the initial bulk composition of a
proto-Triton a chondritic material. Results Figure 1 shows an
Orgueil-like bulk composition simulating the rocky deep interior
composition in a hydrated scenario. In addition to antigorite, we found
that the mineralogy of hydrated deep interior should be characterized by
the primary phases: amphibole, chlorite, antigorite, and talc, for the
expected temperature and pressure of Triton’s deep interior and at a
temperature lower than 980 K. For higher temperature we found that
hydrated phases dehydrate in olivine and pyroxenes, as main phases. We
plan to investigate the role of volatiles and ices in modelling the
mineralogy of the deep interior. Acknowledgments G.M. and C.C.,
acknowledge support from the Italian Space Agency (2020-13-HH.0).
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