![]() “These magmatic pulses are basically periods of increased volcanic activity which can be induced by changes in orbital parameters - in this case, eccentricity Laplace resonance with Io and Ganymede.” 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. These nudges create tidal forces that translate to the heating of the body’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. This is in part due to the Laplace resonance of Europa with Io and Ganymede. So that’s why we studied several parametric models for the eccentricity evolution.” But in this case, the main influence on this evolution is Io, which we didn’t model in our case. “The evolution of orbital parameters is, in our case, only parameterized. In the case of creating the model for Europa, the team had to consider the moon’s changing orbital parameters over the course of its 4.5+ billion year existence. This is something many people are working on now, not only in the Jovian system, but also for extrasolar planets.” ![]() “From a point of view of numerical modeling for moons and planets, tidal heating is more difficult to model because of the interaction with other bodies. And those forces can be difficult to model. Their model is the most detailed of Europa’s interior ever developed and represents the internal heat production and transfer throughout the moon’s history.Ī prime candidate for the mechanism behind Europa’s heating is tidal forces imparted to it via gravitational interactions with Jupiter, Io, and Ganymede. modeled Europa’s internal heating to understand exactly where and how this melting and volcanic activity is occurring. However, the extent of volcanism depends on how much melting is occurring and how heat is transferred to the seafloor.īěhounková et al. The paper, “Tidally Induced Magmatic Pulses on the Oceanic Floor of Jupiter’s Moon Europa” was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters the can be found here. Běhounková in an interview with NASASpaceflight. “In the Jovian system, it is known that there is huge activity on the moon Io, so we wanted to explore if it’s a possibility that there is something similar, although, to a lesser extent, going on on Europa,” said Dr. show that many different factors - including radiogenic power and tidal forces - contribute to the melting of the icy moon’s interior.īut why this type of research regarding Europa? These volcanoes would form due to the melting of Europa’s interior and heat transfer from the rocky interior of Europa to the seafloor. Běhounková et al.’s new research provides evidence to the idea that that seafloor could be volcanically active. Scientists have proposed the idea of a subsurface ocean under Europa’s crust for years, and have strong evidence from multiple missions to support the theory. 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. ![]() New research provides evidence that this seafloor volcanism likely occurred in the moon’s past and maybe ongoing at present as well. 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. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |