Episodic mobile lid activity in Europa's ice shell
Abstract
Jupiter's moon Europa exhibits abundant evidence for past behavior that resembles plate tectonics on the Earth. Our reconstructions of this tectonic activity indicate that, unlike the constant global activity on the Earth, Europa's version of plate tectonics happens episodically and regionally, turning on and off. This has implications for how tectonics is driven by interior convection, as well as the potential for Europa's subsurface ocean to be habitable.
- Publication:
-
EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019
- Pub Date:
- September 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019EPSC...13.1159C