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Published online 24 June 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.596
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Sodium traces hint at subsurface ocean on Enceladus
Measurements rule out geysers on Saturn's moon.
The water plumes erupting from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus could be caused by a liquid ocean lurking many kilometres underground rather than by geysers erupting from a salty ocean just beneath the moon's surface — as early theories suggested.
Evidence that Enceladus could hold a subsurface ocean would be exciting because liquid water elsewhere in our solar system is the most promising place to look for signs of life.
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