Tidal Friction As A Source Of Heat

[Elen Sila]

http://en.wikipedia....Volcanism_on_Io

 

First predicted shortly before the Voyager 1 flyby, the heat source for Io's volcanism comes from tidal heating produced by its forced orbital eccentricity.^[3] This differs from Earth's internal heating, which is derived primarily from radioactive isotope decay.^[4] Io's eccentric orbit leads to a slight difference in Jupiter's gravitational pull on the satellite between its closest and farthest points on its orbit, causing a varying tidal bulge. This variation in the shape of Io causes frictional heating in its interior. Without this tidal heating, Io might have been similar to the Earth's moon, a world of similar size and mass, geologically dead and covered with numerous impact craters.

 

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The tidal heating of Io is dependent on the moon's distance from Jupiter, its orbital eccentricity, the composition of its interior, and its physical state.^[20] Its Laplace orbital resonance with Europa and Ganymede maintains Io's eccentricity and prevents tidal dissipation within Io from circularizing its orbit.

 

Would it be possible, through a combination of tidal heating, radioactive isotope decay, and the greenhouse effect, for a very large moon (like Titan) of a very distant planet (like Uranus or Neptune), to sustain earth-like temperatures and atmospheric pressure, as well as liquid water? How far out from the sun would this become infeasible? And, if feasible, how long could such a state exist, if sustained by an orbital resonance, as is the case with Io? A few million years? Billions?