Europa may have active volcanoes on its ocean floor

One of the more interesting objects within the system, when it involves checking out the potential for extraterrestrial life, is Jupiter’s moon Europa. On the surface, Europa seems like an enormous frozen eyeball covered in veins.

 It’s hard to imagine activity thereunder frozen surface, but scientists believe that the rocky layer underneath that frozen surface might be hot enough to melt, creating undersea volcanoes. NASA scientists have conducted new research and computer modeling indicating volcanic activity may have occurred on the seafloor of Europa within the recent past and will be happening still. 

NASA features a mission called the Europa Clipper, targeting 2024 for launch which will orbit on the brink of the icy moon and collect measurements that would help scientists answer the question definitively. Scientists have found strong evidence that Europa has an ocean beneath its frozen crust above its rocky interior. Research shows that the moon could have enough internal heat to melt this rocky layer partially, which process could feed volcanoes on the subsurface ocean bottom.

 3D modeling about the interior heat is produced and transferred because the most detailed and thorough examination thus far of the effect the inside heating could wear Europa. Scientists say the critical component to the rocky mantle of the moon being hot enough to melt has got to do with the gravitational pull Jupiter has on its moons.

 As Europa orbits Jupiter, the gravity from the huge planet causes the moon’s interior to flex. The flexing motion forces energy into the inside of the moon, which leaks out as heat. The more the inside of the moon flexes, the more heat is generated. Recent work shows where the warmth dissipates and the way it melts the rocky mantle increasing the likelihood of volcanoes on the seafloor.

This is often a big finding because we all know here on Earth that volcanic thermal vents on the ocean bottom, even in a number of the ocean’s deepest parts, are often teeming with life.