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# Sloshing on other heavenly bodies

As I am continuing to search for other research supporting the idea that simple sloshing differential equations govern the fundamental dynamics of ENSO, the thread title topic occasionally pops up, as it has again in the last few days.

This is what I have found in the past:

All Signs Point to Hidden Ocean on Saturn Moon Titan --- May, 2011 : "A huge ocean of liquid water may indeed slosh about beneath the frigid surface of Saturn's moon Titan, according to new evidence collected by a NASA spacecraft."

and now this

Saturn's moon Mimas might have its own subsurface sea --- Oct 16, 2014 : "A global ocean around 30 kilometres below the surface could explain the unusual swaying. The idea is akin to spinning a raw egg and a hard-boiled egg on a table, explains Tajeddine: the raw egg will spin more slowly and unevenly as its liquid insides slosh around. Such an ocean on Mimas would be a surprise, as most of the core heat needed to keep water liquid would probably be lost through the moon's icy shell. But friction inside the moon caused by Saturn's gravity and Mimas's extremely eccentric orbit might melt the ice and preserve the ocean."

This is the context for the earth and the deep-water sloshing:

Air and Oceans Keep the Earth Wobbling Along -- July 25, 2000 : "Scientists later realized the sloshing motion of the Earth's molten interior ought to quickly damp out the wobble, within 70 years, according to recent calculations. But the wobbling continues. That means some force must be banging on the Earth, continually re-energizing the wobble. One candidate: changes in the pressure of air and water pushing on the Earth. ''That pushing down on the ocean floor is not symmetrical,'' Dr. Gross said. Imagine children pushing from all directions on a large beach ball. If some pushed harder and some less, the ball would tend to tilt. Because Earth is spinning, the tilt turns into a wobble."

What I am finding is that a forcing period of about 6.4 years, which is the beat period of the Chandler Wobble continues to show up in my model fits. Richard Gross is the JPL scientist who first attributed the wobble to deeper ocean dynamics. The question is whether this sloshing is emerging in any way as a contributing factor to ENSO.

And of course this brings up the old question of why mysteries on other orbs garners more interest than those of our own home planet. The standard reply is that those places provide us clues as to what is happening on earth.

Comment Source:Thanx Paul these are great posts, I refrain from commenting due to fear of spewing some crackspot science that might get me fired! So I do my homework first. D