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The largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede, is captured here, alongside planet Jupiter, in a color image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 3, 2000. Credit: NASA / JPL / University of New York. Arizona
A recently published study led by researchers at the University of Hawaii at the Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology reveals that Ganymede, an icy moon of Jupiter, appears to have experienced complex periods of time. Geological activity, especially sliding tectonism is seen in the San Andreas Fault of the Earth. This is the first study to comprehensively examine the role of slip tectonism in the geological history of Ganymede.
Plate tectonics is the process on Earth that has created many familiar features on a large scale, such as oceanic and continental crust, mountain ranges, ocean ridges, and phenomena such as earthquakes.
"The highly fractured surface of Ganymede has many distinct regions of alleged landslide faults that could be important for the structural development of its surface," said Marissa E. Cameron, lead author of this study, who completed the work as as PhD student Department of Earth Sciences of SOEST.
It is thought that Ganymede and Europa, another of Jupiter's moons, are oceanic worlds, that is, they have an ocean of liquid water under an ice shell. Europe is believed to be the most likely place to find life in the solar system today, presumably in the ocean where it could be protected from the extreme radiation caused by the ice shell.
Scientists know that Europe has tectonic processes similar to those of the Earth. However, while Ganymede was once very active on the tectonic level, this is no longer the case, which gives researchers a chance to project themselves into Europa's future.
NASA's Voyager background images underpin the high-resolution Galileo images of the Tiamat Sulcus region in Ganymede. The scale bar at the bottom right indicates the distance. Credit: NASA and Cameron et al. (2018)
In order to better understand the role of sliding tectonism in the formation of the Ganymede complex ice surface, the research team proceeded to a methodical and exhaustive mapping of nine sites using images mainly collected by the Galileo spacecraft which gravitated around Jupiter between 1995 and 2003.
"The unexpected discovery was how common the slippage was, slip indicators were observed at all nine sites, representing various geographical locations on Ganymede," said Cameron. "In addition, the similarities between the sites may indicate a past process, on a larger scale.Integrating our observations to previous studies provides an improved representation of Ganymede's tectonic history and allows us to" 39, to learn more about his neighbor, Europa. "
Better understanding the dynamic system of the oceanic worlds of Jupiter allows scientists to prepare as much as possible for future missions exploring these extraterrestrial bodies. Due to the increased interest in Europa and its potential ability to accommodate life, a new flagship mission, Clipper, is expected to be launched between 2022 and 2025 and make 45 orbits in the vicinity of Europa.
This study was put online in July 2018 before the final publication in print on November 15, 2018.
Explore further:
The ocean of Europe in ascension
More information:
Marissa E. Cameron et al, Ganymede morphological mapping: Study of the role of skid tectonics in the evolution of terrain types, Icarus (2018). DOI: 10.1016 / j.icarus.2018.06.024
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