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Rathbun et al. 1998
Rathbun, J.A., Musser, G.S. and Squyres, S.W. (1998). Ice diapirs on Europa: Implications for liquid water. Geophysical Research Letters 25: doi: 10.1029/1998GL900135. issn: 0094-8276.

Early examinations of Galileo images of Europa revealed features that look like low topographic domes. These small (5--10 km in radius) domes have been interpreted as surface manifestations of diapirs. As a way to probe the subsurface structure of Europa, we investigate the possibility that thermally-driven ice diapirism created these surface features. We use a previously developed analytic model for rising diapirs to estimate the initial radii of the diapirs, their initial depth, the temperature of the medium through which they rise and their formation timescales. We assume that the diapirs originate at the boundary layer between solid ice and whatever underlies it, whether it be liquid water or solid rock. Our results show that the diapirs originate at a depth of no more than a few tens of kilometers. Since the H2O layer on Europa is substantially thicker than this, our results support the view that liquid water recently existed beneath the ice on Europa at this location, at a depth of no more than a few tens of kilometers. Further, the ice must have been warm (250--270 K) and was therefore likely to have been convecting. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union

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Abstract

Keywords
Planetology, Solid Surface Planets, Planetology, Solid Surface Planets, Origin and evolution, Planetology, Solar System Objects, Jovian satellites
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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