Cracks in icy Ganymede

Cracks in icy Ganymede

The largest satellite of the Solar System, Ganymede, is captured here along with Jupiter’s home planet. Photo taken on December 3, 2000 by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

A recent study shows that the icy satellite of Jupiter, Ganymede, has undergone periods of geological activity in the past, in honesty tectonic. This is the first analysis where the role of shock slip tectonics in the geological history of the moon has been extensively studied.

Plate tectonics is a process on Earth that has created many large-scale objects, such as oceanic and continental crust, mountain ranges, mid-ocean ridges and earthquakes. The massive surface of Titan, covered with cracks, reflects many of the distinctive features of the proposed slip rupture, which played an important role in the structural development of the surface.

Ganymede and Europe (another satellite of Jupiter) are considered oceanic worlds because they contain a liquid ocean of water under the ice shell. It is believed that Europe is the most likely place in the solar system to detect life, because the ocean is able to protect it from extreme radiation with an ice layer. Scientists know that tectonic processes similar to those of the earth are also observed in Europe. But Ganymede experienced this in the past and now remains calm, which allows in the future to look at the future of Europe.

Cracks in icy Ganymede

Background images from the NASA Voyager spacecraft display the extended Tiamat Sulcus region on Ganymede. The scale below and to the right indicates the distance.

In order to better understand the role of tectonism, the research team conducted an extensive methodological mapping of 9 locations of Ganymede using images obtained by the Galileo apparatus, which revolves around Jupiter in 1995-2003. It turned out that activity indicators were observed at all 9 locations. In addition, the similarities in these places may indicate a large-scale process in the past.

Understanding the more dynamic system of the oceanic worlds of Jupiter allows you to better prepare for future missions to explore Ganymede and Europe. The Clipper mission, the launch of which is scheduled for 2022-2025, is already being prepared for the last, in order to fulfill 45 close orbits around Europe.

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