研究人员通过分析天王星卫星艾瑞尔的地质特征，发现该月球可能曾存在深度超过100英里（170公里）的地下海洋1。艾瑞尔直径720英里（1,159公里），是天王星系统第四大卫星1。研究团队通过模型分析推断，艾瑞尔过去的轨道离心率约为0.04，比现今高出40倍1，这种极端的轨道状态产生的潮汐应力足以解释该月球表面观察到的异常大规模裂隙、脊状地貌和地堑1。
这一发现与研究团队去年对天王星另一卫星米兰达的研究成果相呼应，两颗卫星均显示出支持地下海洋存在的证据1，表明天王星系统可能存在多个隐藏的海洋世界1。研究成果已发表于《Icarus》期刊2026年第444卷1。科学家目前尚不确定地下海洋确切存在的时间和持续时长1，但表示未来的天王星探测器任务可通过对艾瑞尔和米兰达未探索的北半球成像来验证相关模型预测1。
Researchers have discovered evidence suggesting that Ariel, a moon of Uranus, may once have contained a subsurface ocean deeper than 100 miles, compared to the Pacific Ocean's average depth of approximately 2.5 miles 1. The analysis of massive fractures and geological structures on Ariel's surface, combined with orbital modeling, points to a dramatic past in which the moon experienced extreme tidal stresses capable of reshaping its crust 1.
The study indicates that Ariel's orbital eccentricity was approximately 40 times higher in the past than it is today 1. These heightened tidal forces would have generated sufficient stress to create the large-scale rifts, ridges, and graben features observed on the moon's surface 1. Ariel, with a diameter of 720 miles, ranks as the fourth-largest moon in the Uranus system 1. The research has been published in the journal Icarus, Volume 444, 2026 (DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116822) 1.
This discovery aligns with similar findings regarding Miranda, another Uranus moon, which the same research team investigated previously and also found evidence supporting the existence of a subsurface ocean 1. Together, these findings suggest the Uranus system may contain multiple hidden ocean worlds. However, scientists have not yet determined the precise timing or duration of these subsurface oceans' existence 1. Future Uranus spacecraft missions could test the models and provide imaging of the unexplored northern hemispheres of both Ariel and Miranda 1.
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