{"258651":{"#nid":"258651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Search for More Life in the Solar System","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a finding of relevance to the search for life in our solar system, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin\u2019s Institute for Geophysics and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research have shown that the subsurface ocean on Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa may have deep currents and circulation patterns with heat and energy transfers capable of sustaining biological life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists believe Europa is one of the planetary bodies in our solar system most likely to have conditions that could sustain life, an idea reinforced by magnetometer readings from the Galileo spacecraft detecting signs of a salty, global ocean below the moon\u2019s icy shell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWithout direct measurements of the ocean, scientists have to rely on magnetometer data and observations of the moon\u2019s icy surface to account for oceanic conditions below the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERegions of disrupted ice on the surface, known as chaos terrains, are one of Europa\u2019s most prominent features. As lead author Krista Soderlund and colleagues explain in this week\u2019s online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Geosciences\u003C\/em\u003E, the chaos terrains, which are concentrated in Europa\u2019s equatorial region, could result from convection in Europa\u0027s ice shell, accelerated by heat from the ocean. The heat transfer and possible marine ice formation may be helping form diapirs, or warm compositionally buoyant plumes of ice that rise through the shell.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a numerical model of Europa\u2019s ocean circulation, the researchers found that warm rising ocean currents near the equator and subsiding currents in latitudes closer to the poles could account for the location of chaos terrains and other features of Europa\u2019s surface. Such a pattern coupled with regionally more vigorous turbulence intensifies heat transfer near the equator, which could help initiate upwelling ice pulses that create features such as the chaos terrains.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe processes we are modeling on Europa remind us of processes on Earth,\u201d says Soderlund. A similar process has been observed in the patterns creating marine ice in parts of Antarctica.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe current patterns modeled for Europa contrast with the patterns observed on Jupiter and Saturn, where bands of storms form because of the way their atmospheres rotate. The physics of Europa\u2019s ocean appear to have more in common with the oceans of the \u201cice giants\u201d Uranus and Neptune, which show signs of three-dimensional convection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis tells us foundational aspects of ocean physics,\u201d notes co-author Britney Schmidt, assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. More importantly, adds Schmidt, if the study\u2019s hypothesis is correct, it shows that Europa\u2019s oceans are very important as a controlling influence on the surface ice shell, offering proof of the concept that ice-ocean interactions are important to Europa.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat means more evidence that the ocean is there, that it\u2019s active, and there are interesting interactions between the ocean and ice shell,\u201d says Schmidt, \u201call of which makes us think about the possibility of life on Europa.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoderlund, who has studied icy satellites throughout her science career, looks forward to the chance to test her hypothesis through future missions to the Jovian system. The European Space Agency\u2019s JUICE mission (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) will give a tantalizing glimpse into the characteristics of the ocean and ice shell through two flyby observations. NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission concept, under study, would complement the view with global measurements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoderlund says she appreciates the chance \u201cto make a prediction about Europa\u2019s subsurface currents that we might know the answer to in our lifetimes \u2014 that\u2019s pretty exciting.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch funding was provided by the Institute for Geophysics, part of the University of Texas at Austin\u2019s Jackson School of Geosciences.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWritten by J.B. Bird, Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin\u003C\/em\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Model suggests ocean currents shape Europa\u0027s icy shell in ways critical for potential habitats"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study shows that the subsurface of Jupiter\u0027s moon Europa may have deep currents and energy transfers capable of sustaining life."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2013-12-04 12:32:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:29","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"258371":{"id":"258371","type":"image","title":"Britney Schmidt","body":null,"created":"1449243972","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:12","changed":"1475894938","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:58","alt":"Britney Schmidt","file":{"fid":"198281","name":"img_2752_britney_schmidt.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_2752_britney_schmidt_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_2752_britney_schmidt_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3575732,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_2752_britney_schmidt_0.jpg?itok=vCyI3m3q"}},"258381":{"id":"258381","type":"image","title":"Europa","body":null,"created":"1449243972","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:12","changed":"1475894938","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:58","alt":"Europa","file":{"fid":"198282","name":"europa.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6943,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/europa_0.jpeg?itok=bBpKnjfG"}},"258391":{"id":"258391","type":"image","title":"Europa Surface","body":null,"created":"1449243972","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:12","changed":"1475894938","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:58","alt":"Europa Surface","file":{"fid":"198283","name":"europa_lines.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_lines_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/europa_lines_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":81921,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/europa_lines_0.jpeg?itok=-_013iEG"}}},"media_ids":["258371","258381","258391"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/Britney_Schmidt","title":"Britney Schmidt"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"81291","name":"Britney Schmidt"},{"id":"81281","name":"Europa"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}