What is the physical manifestation of tidal friction within a tidally heated moon's interior?
Answer
Immense internal friction generated by rhythmic stretching and squeezing.
Tidal heating is fundamentally driven by gravitational forces causing the moon's internal material to deform repeatedly. As the massive planet exerts a varying gravitational pull based on the moon's elliptical path, the moon's interior is rhythmically stretched and squeezed, a motion comparable to kneading dough. This constant flexing creates immense internal friction, which is the direct manifestation of tidal friction. This dissipated energy can be substantial enough to melt rock, creating magma chambers, or, in the case of icy moons, maintaining vast subsurface oceans of liquid water.
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