Tidal heating of Ariel

During evolution through the 4:1 commensurability early in the history of the Uranian system, over 3.8 billion years ago, tidal heating may have raised the internal temperature of Ariel by up to about 20 K; the internal temperature of Ariel may already have been high in virtue of both accretional and radiogenic heating. The additional increase in Ariel's temperature could then have triggered the geological activity that led to a late resurfacing, by decreasing lithospheric thickness and exacerbating thermal stresses on it to the point where observed cracks and faults formed.