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Estimates of ice thickness in the Conamara Chaos Region of Europa
Author(s) -
Williams Kevin K.,
Greeley Ronald
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1998gl900144
Subject(s) - galilean moons , geology , jupiter (rocket family) , buoyancy , lithosphere , geophysics , spacecraft , astrobiology , natural satellite , solar system , seismology , astronomy , mechanics , tectonics , physics
Europa, the second Galilean moon outward from Jupiter, is similar in size to Earth's moon but has an outer water‐ice layer on the order of 100 km thick. Images acquired by the Galileo spacecraft reveal domical features and iceberg‐like blocks in some areas that suggest the ice was regionally thin at the time the features formed. This paper applies buoyancy and flexural models to some of the features to estimate ice thickness. Assuming that the ice blocks were floating in a liquid sublayer, the buoyancy model suggests an ice layer 0.2–3.0 km thick. Also, the flexural models suggest that only the upper 0.1–0.5 km of that ice layer responded elastically to stresses, acting as an elastic lithosphere.