Core-ocean-ice exchange processes in Europa, Ganymede and Callisto
Abstract
Magnetic data gathered by the Galileo spacecraft along with the observations of time-varying auroral emissions provide evidences for deep salty water oceans within Jupiter's moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. However, the composition and the depth of these internal oceans remain very poorly constrained. Future geophysical and compositional measurements by the NASA Europa Clipper mission and the ESA JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE) mission will provide crucial constraints on the hydrosphere structure, the ocean composition and the deep interior structure of these bodies.In preparation of the future measurements, we model the possible present-day internal structure of these three icy worlds and the exchange processes between their internal layers. The ultimate goal of this modeling effort is to provide a theoretical framework to interpret the future data and to assess their implications in terms of thermal history and habitability of these icy-ocean worlds.
- Publication:
-
European Planetary Science Congress
- Pub Date:
- September 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018EPSC...12..894T