Space & Astronomy

Oceans on Europa likely deep underground

By T.K. Randall
September 30, 2012 ·  5 comments

Image Credit: NASA Jupiter's moon Europa has long been one of the most tantalizing bodies in the solar system, a world completely covered in a crust of ice it is thought that a vast ocean of liquid water may exist beneath its surface. To explore this alien sea it would be necessary to not only land a probe on the surface but for it to melt its way down through the ice to reach the water underneath. But how far down would it have to go ? Scientists now believe the water to be far deeper underground than previously thought.

"A global water ocean may be present, but relatively deep below the surface - around 25 to 50 kilometers," said Klára Kalousová. "There could be areas of liquid water at much shallower depths, say around 5 kilometers, but these would only exist for a few tens of thousands of years before migrating downwards."[!gad]Jupiter's moon Europa has long been one of the most tantalizing bodies in the solar system, a world completely covered in a crust of ice it is thought that a vast ocean of liquid water may exist beneath its surface. To explore this alien sea it would be necessary to not only land a probe on the surface but for it to melt its way down through the ice to reach the water underneath. But how far down would it have to go ? Scientists now believe the water to be far deeper underground than previously thought.

"A global water ocean may be present, but relatively deep below the surface - around 25 to 50 kilometers," said Klára Kalousová. "There could be areas of liquid water at much shallower depths, say around 5 kilometers, but these would only exist for a few tens of thousands of years before migrating downwards."

Source: Live Science | Comments (5)

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