The Fe snow regime in Ganymede's core: A deep-seated dynamo below a stable snow zone

Abstract

Ganymede shows signs of a present-day magnetic field, whose origin is thought to be in its core. The Fe snow regime has been suggested to be vital in Ganymede's history. In this regime, Fe crystals first form at the core-mantle boundary and later settle to the deeper core due to their higher density (Fe snow). A stable chemical gradient arises within the liquid of the snow zone. Below the snow zone the Fe particles remelt. We propose that the remelting of Fe in the deeper, entirely liquid core initiates compositional convection, which could be the origin of the dynamo. Such a dynamo is restricted by the period of time the snow zone needs to grow across the core. We investigate this time period with a 1-D core evolution model by varying the initial sulfur concentration, the core heat flux, and the thermal conductivity of the core. For the proposed dynamo in the deeper liquid core, we obtain necessary time periods of between 320 and 800 Myr and magnetic field strengths at the surface that match the observed value of 719 nT. To explain the present magnetic field, we favor cores with high sulfur concentrations because those lead to a late start and a long duration of the dynamo. Furthermore, a present dynamo below the snow zone suggests the absence of an inner core.