All topics

Europa's hidden ocean

Europa is one of Jupiter's four large moons, and beneath its frozen icy surface lies a vast hidden ocean of liquid water. Scientists estimate that Europa has an outer layer of water around 100 km thick, with a frozen crust on top and a liquid ocean underneath. This subsurface ocean is kept liquid by heat generated through tidal flexing—the constant stretching and squeezing of the moon caused by Jupiter's gravity. The ocean matters enormously because it could potentially harbor extraterrestrial life. Additionally, the ocean is thought to interact with the rocky seafloor beneath it, absorbing chemicals and creating conditions that might support microbial life similar to life found in Earth's deep oceans.

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org: “It is estimated that Europa has an outer layer of water around 100 km (62 mi) thick – a part frozen as its crust and a part as a liquid ocean underneath the ice.”
• en.wikipedia.org: “The apparent youth and smoothness of the surface is due to a water ocean beneath the surface, which could conceivably harbor extraterrestrial life.”
• en.wikipedia.org: “The predominant model suggests that heat from tidal flexing causes the ocean to remain liquid and drives ice movement similar to plate tectonics, absorbing chemicals from the surface into the ocean below.”