Lecture 18 Flashcards
The Galilean Satellites
Galilean Satellites
Io Europa Ganymede Callisto (ordered by distance)
What is the most volcanically active body in the solar system?
Io
Evidence of Active Volcanism on Io
Umbrella Shaped Eruption Plumes - 300 Km High and 1000 Km wide
Fissure Eruptions
Implications of IO’s volcanism
100x more lava than Earth
Resurfacing Rate of 1m/1000 years
Surface Age < 1 Ma
IO Geologic History
Originally Volatile-Rich
Fe-S core, silicate mantle
Heat Produced due to Tidal Heating
Europa Features
Few Craters
Low Relief
Ice Rafts
Europa Geologic History
Volatile Rich Materials
Differentiation
Fe Core
Silicate Mantle
Lithosphere is 100km thick ice or ice capped ocean
Europa Tidal Effects
Heating
Liquid water ocean
Fracturing, Resurfacing
Ganymede Features
Dark Cratered Terrain
Light Grooved Terrain
Ganymede Geologic History
Volatile Rich Materials
4.5 Ga Differentiation
Fe-S Core
Silicate Mantle
When did the Cratered Terrain form on Ganymede?
4.5 - 4.0 Ga
When did the grooved Terrain form on Ganymede?
3.5 Ga
Callisto Features
Dominated by Impact Structures
Impacts onto an icy surface
- Multiring structures
- Bright central areas
Callisto Geologic History
Volatile rich material
Undifferentiated
Surface > 4.0 Ga
No Apparent Tidal Effects
Galilean Satellites differences with distance from Jupiter
Increasing in Surface Ages
Decrease in Density