A recent geological survey of Europa bring out that a monolithic 20,000 square - klick portion of the surface was missing . To excuse it , a research team is now proposing that Europa ’s ice shell has a brittle , mobile , plate - like system above convecting warmer ice .
Above : False - color image of Europa ’s train northern cerebral hemisphere , where subduction zones are hypothesized to exist . cite : NASA / JPL / University of Arizona .
If confirm , the determination would make Europa the only known place in the solar system other than Earth to have a surface forge by architectonic denture . Previous piece of work has show up that Marsonce experienced plate tectonics , but those ancient geologic outgrowth have likely fall to an end .
Plate tectonics substantiate on Mars
Researchers Simon Kattenhorn and Louise Prockter observe areas of the icy moon where cracks opened up and where new textile came up from underneath the trash , creating new surface area .
“ And unless the moon is expanding , which we do n’t think is the lawsuit , you have to take away surface from somewhere else for accommodate the new surface country being created , ” noted Kattenhorn inABC Science .
It ’s likely that a plate tectonic organization is moving honest-to-god share of Europa ’s airfoil beneath adjacent plates , similar to subduction zone on Earth .
The researchers arrived at this conclusion after probe images from NASA ’s Galileo mission . They remodel the geologic history of a plane section of Europa ’s open , one criss - crossed by ridges and shift . After scanning an expanse of 134,000 square kilometre ( 51,700 hearty air mile ) , the researchers determine that a 20,000 square - klick ( 7,722 square - mile ) lump was missing . The region had go away along a edge between two ice plates , possibly when one bury under the other . More from ABC Science :
“ The surface of Europa is cut across in ancient geological characteristic which [ we think ] are older than the subduction zone and photographic plate boundaries we identified , ” says Kattenhorn
“ We were able to reconstruct the original blueprint of these features like pieces of a jigsaw mystifier , matching the geology patterns . You could see that rigid portions of the aerofoil had been rearranged like architectonic plates . ”
As the writer match up the geology , they find that a piece of the open was lack along a boundary between two tectonic plates .
“ We cerebrate one plate of crank sank beneath the other into warmer Methedrine layer below at this limit , just like subduction zones on Earth , ” says Kattenhorn .
The subducting plate move a few km down and are reincorporated into the ice shell . Friction generated during subduction , produces warmth which melt the ice and causes cryovolcanic ( ice vent ) activity on the control surface .
“ There are plot of land on the surface near subduction zones that face like lava , ” says Kattenhorn .
“ This is water that ’s meld , has come up and flowed across the surface before freezing , just like a lava rate of flow . ”
This unconscious process is similar to what find to the Earth ’s crust , which is section into legion tectonic home base that are moved by convecting heating plant .
This is all very near news for astrobiologists because it point to complex and dynamic chemical processes . The recycling of textile between the surface and the interior has implications for potential habitability . As take down by the researcher , “ We acknowledge materials on the control surface are being chemically altered by Jupiter ’s radiation , so those chemical compound generated at the open could be moved back down into the subsurface . ”
Read theentire articleat ABC Science . And check out the study at Nature Geoscience : “ Evidence for subduction in the ice shell of Europa . ”
AstrobiologyAstronomyExogeologyGeologyScience
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , scientific discipline , and civilization news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
