The model prepared in the research shows that volcanic activity has occurred on Europa’s seafloor in the recent past and may still occur.
Europa is seen as one of the strongest candidates for the discovery of extraterrestrial life. The surface of the satellite, which is slightly smaller than the Moon, is covered with a layer of ice. However, scientists think there is a large ocean under the layer.
NASA plans to launch a spacecraft called the Europa Clipper in 2024 to explore this underwater environment.
The new research, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, suggested that active volcanoes could be lurking on Europa’s seafloor.
In addition, it was determined that volcanic activity was most likely occurring near the poles of the celestial body.
The research created a detailed model of how Europa’s interior stretches as it is pulled by Jupiter’s strong gravitational force.
Such stretching is thought to generate frictional heat that keeps Europa’s ocean from freezing and could even partially melt the top layer of its rocky mantle.
It is suggested that the melting in question may have fed seabed volcanoes for most of Europa’s history, and even today.
Moreover, it is stated that these volcanoes could power chemical energy-rich hydrothermal systems that possible life forms on Europa could exploit.
“Our findings provide additional evidence that Europa’s subterranean ocean may be a suitable environment for the emergence of life,” said study lead author Marie Behounková, of the University of Prague in the Czech Republic.
Europa is one of the rare celestial bodies that could have sustained volcanic activity for billions of years, and possibly the only object beyond Earth to have a large water reservoir and a long-lived energy source.
Cynthia Phillips, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, emphasized that life is found at the bottom of Earth’s oceans in hydrothermal systems where water heats up and absorbs chemicals from the rock layer:
“If there are hydrothermal systems on the seafloor on Europa, they could be sources of thermal and chemical energy that create favorable conditions for life.”
Source: The Independent
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