Io’s Volcano Mystery Solved: No Global Magma Ocean Found

Latest analysis, revealed in Nature, has raised questions concerning the volcanic processes occurring on Jupiter’s moon Io, significantly relating to the absence of a worldwide magma ocean beneath its floor. Information collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, mixed with historic data from the Galileo mission, recommend that Io’s inside is extra stable than beforehand believed. This revelation has implications not just for Io but additionally for our understanding of tidal heating in different celestial our bodies.

Juno and Galileo Findings Reveal a Stable Inside

Scientists, led by Ryan Park from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have analysed knowledge from Juno’s shut fly-bys of Io, performed between December 2023 and February 2024, as per experiences. These measurements, alongside archival knowledge from Galileo, targeted on Io’s gravitational subject and its deformation below Jupiter’s intense gravitational pull. It was found that Io’s rigidity guidelines out the potential of a moon-wide ocean of molten rock. Earlier theories, based mostly on magnetic induction knowledge and the distribution of volcanic exercise, had urged such an ocean may exist to facilitate the motion of warmth beneath Io’s floor.

Supply of Lava Stays Below Investigation

According to experiences, Io is dwelling to round 400 energetic volcanoes, with its floor coated in in depth lava plains. With out a magma ocean, the molten rock erupting via these volcanoes should originate from localised pockets of soften throughout the mantle. These pockets are believed to be heated via tidal forces exerted by Jupiter and its neighbouring moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The fixed twisting and squeezing attributable to these gravitational interactions generate warmth, although it seems inadequate to keep up a totally molten layer.

Implications for Exoplanetary Research

The findings lengthen past Io, impacting theories about exoplanets in shut orbits round M-dwarf stars. Just like Io’s interplay with Jupiter, these exoplanets expertise tidal heating. The absence of a worldwide magma ocean on Io challenges the belief that such exoplanets would host in depth molten layers, prompting scientists to revisit these fashions.