Tidal dissipation in small viscoelastic ice moons: The case of Enceladus

Tidal dissipation is investigated in a viscoelastic homogeneous sphere having the orbital and physical characteristics of the icy inner satellite of Saturn, Enceladus. The dissipated power is calculated for Kelvin-Voigt and Maxwell rheologies, whose dissipation function can be expressed in terms of viscosity. Expressions for the dissipated power as a function of viscosity is calculated in both cases and compared to the expression found for a lossy elastic body. A physical law relating viscosity of water ice to temperature and grain size is introduced and the feedback between dissipated power and temperature is investigated. It is found that tidal dissipation with current orbital eccentricity alone cannot account for the surface activity observed on Enceladus, if it is composed of water ice.