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Research Supports the Possibility of Geothermal Vents on Europa

Accepted submission by takyon at 2021-06-21 07:55:21
Science

Europa volcanism & interior heating modeled in detail, offers research targets for upcoming missions [nasaspaceflight.com]

Europa, an icy Jovian moon that likely possesses an ocean beneath its icy crust, may have an interior that is hot enough to produce volcanic activity on its seafloor. New research provides evidence that this seafloor volcanism likely occurred in the moon's past and [may be] ongoing at present as well.

The team of researchers, led by Dr. Marie Běhounková of Charles University in the Czech Republic, developed their own 3D models of Europa's interior and heating transfer properties to investigate the possibility of volcanism on Europa's ocean floor given other volcanism seen in the Jovian system.

[...] These volcanoes would form due to the melting of Europa's interior and heat transfer from the rocky interior of Europa to the seafloor. Models developed by Běhounková et al. show that many different factors — including radiogenic power and tidal forces — contribute to the melting of the icy moon's interior.

[...] A Laplace resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when three planetary bodies with an orbital period ratio of 1:2:4 exert regular and periodic gravitational effects on each other. These nudges create tidal forces that translate to the heating of the body's interior.

It's that interaction that led Běhounková et al.'s research toward the conclusion that this resonance and the associate tidal forces can cause increased periods of volcanic activity — called magmatic pulses — on Europa.

Tidally Induced Magmatic Pulses on the Oceanic Floor of Jupiter's Moon Europa [wiley.com] (DOI: 10.1029/2020GL090077) (DX [doi.org])

Previously: Hydrogen Emitted by Enceladus, More Evidence of Plumes at Europa [soylentnews.org]
Plate Tectonics on Europa and Subsurface Oceans in the Outer Solar System [soylentnews.org]
NASA Finds Evidence of Water Plume on Europa [soylentnews.org]
Europa Plume Sites Lack Expected Heat Signatures [soylentnews.org]
Jupiter's Watery Moon, Europa, Is Covered in Table Salt [soylentnews.org]
Jupiter's Ocean Moon Europa Probably Glows in the Dark [soylentnews.org]


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