Would hydrothermal vents produce enough heat? Or would the oceans freeze over? And then would there just be thermal bubbles surrounding the vents in oceanic ice?
The oceans would eventually freeze over, but the deep ocean could stay liquid for tens of millions of years. Ice is a pretty good insulator, and there is more than one moon in the solar system suspected to have liquid oceans under a layer of ice.
Would hydrothermal vents produce enough heat? Or would the oceans freeze over? And then would there just be thermal bubbles surrounding the vents in oceanic ice?
The oceans would eventually freeze over, but the deep ocean could stay liquid for tens of millions of years. Ice is a pretty good insulator, and there is more than one moon in the solar system suspected to have liquid oceans under a layer of ice.