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Héctor Martínez Rodríguez

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1 Héctor Martínez Rodríguez
EUROPA’S ICY SURFACE Héctor Martínez Rodríguez Sistema Solar y Exoplanetas Mayo 2014

2 Overview

3 Overview: Europa’s surface
Outer layer of water around 100 km thick with an iced upper crust (geological evidences show a low viscosity layer beneath the surface). High albedo (0.64) Spectroscopic data are consistent with hydrated minerals, suggesting the presence of water on the surface in the past (NIMS) Few craters, tectonically active and young (tidal effects due to the resonances with Io and Jupiter) 200 km high water vapor plumes (high heat flow, HST, December 2013)

4 Overview: Europa’s surface

5 Overview: Europa’s surface

6 Europa’s salty surface
The less ice there is, the darker the surface is. Pure ice is shown in dark blue

7 Europa’s salty surface

8 Europa’s salty surface

9 Europa’s surface: models
The thickness of the shell is important to understand Europan geological features and processes: Chaos features Impact crater morphology Formation of ridges, bands and faults Convection

10 Europa’s surface: models

11 Europa’s surface: models

12 Europa’s surface: thick-shell model

13 Europa’s surface: thick-shell model

14 Europa’s ocean

15 Europa’s ocean Tidal heating essential to explain its existence
Measurements of the librations of Europa characterise the ocean. The icy shell does not librate independently from the interior Potential for extraterrestrial life

16 Europa’s surface: resume

17 Europa’s surface: resume

18 References Billings, S. E., & Kattenhorn, S. A. 2005, Icarus –412 Goldreich, P. M., & Mitchell, J. L. 2010, arXiv: v3 Hand, K. P., & Chyba, C.F. 2007, Icarus –438 Kargel, J. S. et al. 2000, Icarus 148, 226 –265 Priscu, J. C., & Hand, K.P. 2012, Microbe / Volume 7, Number 4

19 References Ruiz, J. 2012, Earth, Moon and Planets 109:117–125
Ruiz, J., & Fairén, A.G. 2005, Earth, Moon and Planets 97: 79–90 Ruiz, J., & Tejero, R. 2003, Icarus –373 Ruiz, J., & Tejero, R. 2005, Icarus –446

20 References http://science.nasa.gov/ http://hubblesite.org/


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