. 24/7 Space News .
OUTER PLANETS
NASA study suggests shallow lakes in Europa's icy crust could erupt
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 13, 2022

Europa Clipper will carry other instruments that will be able to test the theories of the new research. The science cameras will be able to make high-resolution color and stereoscopic images of Europa; the thermal emission imager will use an infrared camera to map Europa's temperatures and find clues about geologic activity - including cryovolcanism. If plumes are erupting, they could be observable by the ultraviolet spectrograph, the instrument that analyzes ultraviolet light.

New research makes hypotheses that NASA's Europa Clipper can test: Any plumes or volcanic activity at the Jovian moon's surface are caused by shallow lakes in its icy crust.

In the search for life beyond Earth, subsurface bodies of water in our outer solar system are some of the most important targets. That's why NASA is sending the Europa Clipper spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa: There is strong evidence that under a thick crust of ice, the moon harbors a global ocean that could potentially be habitable.

But scientists believe the ocean isn't the only water on Europa. Based on observations from NASA's Galileo orbiter, they believe salty liquid reservoirs may reside inside the moon's icy shell - some of them close to the surface of the ice and some many miles below.

The more scientists understand about the water that Europa may be holding, the more likely they will know where to look for it when NASA sends Europa Clipper in 2024 to conduct a detailed investigation. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and use its suite of sophisticated instruments to gather science data as it flies by the moon about 50 times.

Now, research is helping scientists better understand what the subsurface lakes in Europa may look like and how they behave. A key finding in a paper published recently in Planetary Science Journal supports the longstanding idea that water could potentially erupt above the surface of Europa either as plumes of vapor or as cryovolcanic activity (think: flowing, slushy ice rather than molten lava).

The computer modeling in the paper goes further, showing that if there are eruptions on Europa, they likely come from shallow, wide lakes embedded in the ice and not from the global ocean far below.

"We demonstrated that plumes or cryolava flows could mean there are shallow liquid reservoirs below, which Europa Clipper would be able to detect," said Elodie Lesage, Europa scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and lead author of the research. "Our results give new insights into how deep the water might be that's driving surface activity, including plumes. And the water should be shallow enough that it can be detected by multiple Europa Clipper instruments."

Different Depths, Different Ice
Lesage's computer modeling lays out a blueprint for what scientists might find inside the ice if they were to observe eruptions at the surface. According to her models, they likely would detect reservoirs relatively close to the surface, in the upper 2.5 to 5 miles (4 to 8 kilometers) of the crust, where the ice is coldest and most brittle.

That's because the subsurface ice there doesn't allow for expansion: As the pockets of water freeze and expand, they could break the surrounding ice and trigger eruptions, much like a can of soda in a freezer explodes. And pockets of water that do burst through would likely be wide and flat like pancakes.

Reservoirs deeper in the ice layer - with floors more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) below the crust - would push against warmer ice surrounding them as they expand. That ice is soft enough to act as a cushion, absorbing the pressure rather than bursting. Rather than acting like a can of soda, these pockets of water would behave more like a liquid-filled balloon, where the balloon simply stretches as the liquid within it freezes and expands.

Sensing Firsthand
Scientists on the Europa Clipper mission can use this research when the spacecraft arrives at Europa in 2030. For example, the radar instrument - called Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) - is one of the key instruments that will be used to look for water pockets in the ice.

"The new work shows that water bodies in the shallow subsurface could be unstable if stresses exceed the strength of the ice and could be associated with plumes rising above the surface," said Don Blankenship, of the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics in Austin, Texas, who leads the radar instrument team. "That means REASON could be able to see water bodies in the same places that you see plumes."

Europa Clipper will carry other instruments that will be able to test the theories of the new research. The science cameras will be able to make high-resolution color and stereoscopic images of Europa; the thermal emission imager will use an infrared camera to map Europa's temperatures and find clues about geologic activity - including cryovolcanism. If plumes are erupting, they could be observable by the ultraviolet spectrograph, the instrument that analyzes ultraviolet light.

Research Report:Simulation of Freezing Cryomagma Reservoirs in Viscoelastic Ice Shells


Related Links
Europa Clipper at NASA
The million outer planets of a star called Sol


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


OUTER PLANETS
NASA's Juno gets highest-resolution close-up of Jupiter's moon Europa
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 06, 2022
Observations from the spacecraft's pass of the moon provided the first close-up in over two decades of this ocean world, resulting in remarkable imagery and unique science. The highest-resolution photo NASA's Juno mission has ever taken of a specific portion of Jupiter's moon Europa reveals a detailed view of a puzzling region of the moon's heavily fractured icy crust. The image covers about 93 miles (150 kilometers) by 125 miles (200 kilometers) of Europa's surface, revealing a region criss ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

OUTER PLANETS
NASA Crew-4 astronauts safely splash down in Atlantic

World's first space tourist plans new flight to Moon with SpaceX

Eagle-designed space drones target in-orbit construction

Cables, tie-wraps and no step

OUTER PLANETS
Orbex secures 40M pounds in Series C Funding round

NASA's Crew-5 mission casts long exposure light beam

Musk says cannot fund Starlink in Ukraine indefinitely

Electron Rocket arrives at Wallops for inaugural Rocket Lab mission from Virginia

OUTER PLANETS
Things that go bump in the night on Mars!

Sols 3621-3622: Planetary Power Puzzle

NASA's InSight waits out dust storm

Sols 3614-3615: Chemin's Moment To Shine

OUTER PLANETS
Mengtian space lab fueled ahead of upcoming launch

Tiangong space station marks key step in assembly

China begins search for fourth astronaut generation

China launches multiple satellites in back to back launches

OUTER PLANETS
Phase Four unveils game changing engine for LEO constellations

Russia launches new Angolan satellite into orbit

Eutelsat strategy update on the proposed combination with OneWeb

New Iridium Certus Service Providers to Support U.S. Government Customers

OUTER PLANETS
DLR's new optical ground station inaugurated

NASA awards contracts to assess near-space communications capabilities

Heat-proof chaotic carbides could revolutionize aerospace technology

Europe's police keep wary eye on threat from 3D-printed guns

OUTER PLANETS
Broccoli gas: A better way to find life in space

Blue Skies Space satellite will monitor how energy released by stars impacts exoplanet habitability

Heaviest element yet detected in an exoplanet atmosphere

JPL developing more tools to help search for life in deep space

OUTER PLANETS
Mars and Jupiter moons meet

NASA study suggests shallow lakes in Europa's icy crust could erupt

NASA studies origins of dwarf planet Haumea

Sharpest Earth-based images of Europa and Ganymede reveal their icy landscape









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.