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Davies 2003
Davies, A.G. (2003). Temperature, age and crust thickness distributions of Loki Patera on Io from Galileo NIMS data: Implications for resurfacing mechanism. Geophysical Research Letters 30: doi: 10.1029/2003GL018371. issn: 0094-8276.

A high-spatial-resolution, multi-wavelength observation by the Galileo NIMS instrument has been analysed to determine the temperature and area distribution of a large portion of the ionian volcano Loki Patera. The temperatures of the cooler components from a two-temperature fit to the data can be used to determine ages of the surface. The age of the floor along a profile across the floor of the caldera ranges from ~10 to ~80 days. This puts the start of the resurfacing in July/early August 2001, yielding a resurfacing rate of approximately 1 km/day, with the new lava spreading from the SW corner of the caldera in a NE direction. This rate is consistent with resurfacing by foundering of the crust on a lava lake. However, the temperature distribution may also result from the emplacement of flows. Implied crust thicknesses (derived using a lava cooling model) range from 2.6 to 0.9 m.

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Abstract

Keywords
Planetary Sciences, Rings and dust, Planetary Sciences, Volcanism, Planetology, Solar System Objects, Jovian satellites, Structural Geology, Remote sensing, Volcanology, Eruption mechanisms
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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