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Scientists discover Earth-like tectonics on Jupiter moon
Scientists discover Earth-like tectonics on Jupiter moon
http://rt.com/news/186248-jupiter-moon-earth-life/
http://rt.com/news/186248-jupiter-moon-earth-life/
Jupiter’s moon Europa could be quite Earth-like and even have traces of life, say scientists who discovered that Europa has ‘diving’ tectonic plates, the same type of surface-shifting geological activity as found on Earth.
“Europa may be more Earth-like than we imagined, if it has a global plate tectonic system,” one of the study’s authors, Simon A. Kattenhorn, says in a NASA press release.
He added that such a discovery may show that one of Jupiter’s 67 confirmed moons may bear traces of life.
“Not only does this discovery make it one of the most geologically-interesting bodies in the solar system, it also implies two-way communication between the exterior and interior - a way to move material from the surface into the ocean- a process which has significant implications for Europa’s potential as a habitable world.”
The article ‘Evidence for subduction in the ice shell of Europa’ was written by Kattenhorn together with Louise M. Prockter and published in Nature Geoscience on Sunday.
“We have been puzzled for years as to how all this new terrain could be formed, but we couldn’t figure out how it was accommodated,” said Prockter. “We finally think we’ve found the answer.”
Kattenhorn and Prockter claim in a new study they observed plate tectonics when studying Europa’s surface, which is about 40-90 million years old.
“We propose that Europa’s ice shell has a brittle, mobile, plate-like system above convecting warmer ice. Hence, Europa may be the only Solar System body other than Earth to exhibit a system of plate tectonics,” said the authors.
“Europa may be more Earth-like than we imagined, if it has a global plate tectonic system,” one of the study’s authors, Simon A. Kattenhorn, says in a NASA press release.
He added that such a discovery may show that one of Jupiter’s 67 confirmed moons may bear traces of life.
“Not only does this discovery make it one of the most geologically-interesting bodies in the solar system, it also implies two-way communication between the exterior and interior - a way to move material from the surface into the ocean- a process which has significant implications for Europa’s potential as a habitable world.”
The article ‘Evidence for subduction in the ice shell of Europa’ was written by Kattenhorn together with Louise M. Prockter and published in Nature Geoscience on Sunday.
“We have been puzzled for years as to how all this new terrain could be formed, but we couldn’t figure out how it was accommodated,” said Prockter. “We finally think we’ve found the answer.”
Kattenhorn and Prockter claim in a new study they observed plate tectonics when studying Europa’s surface, which is about 40-90 million years old.
“We propose that Europa’s ice shell has a brittle, mobile, plate-like system above convecting warmer ice. Hence, Europa may be the only Solar System body other than Earth to exhibit a system of plate tectonics,” said the authors.
what bollocks
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