Jupiter’s Moon Io Shows Consistent Volcanic Activity Since Formation, US Research Team Finds

Research has shown that Jupiter’s satellite Io, one of the most volcanically active celestial bodies in the solar system, has maintained its current level of volcanic activity since it formed 4.57 billion years ago.

In the scientific journal Science of the 19th, the team of Professor Catherine de Clear of Caltech observed the gases in Io’s thin atmosphere and analyzed the ratio of stable isotopes of molecules containing sulfur (S) and chlorine (Cl). You stated that you have come to this conclusion.

Among the Galilean moons around Jupiter, Io, the closest to Jupiter, receives Jupiter’s enormous gravity and also receives the forces of the other moons Ganymede and Europa. Due to this internal friction and heat, volcanic activity is active and lava is observed flowing across the surface.

However, it is not yet fully known how long this widespread volcanic activity has been occurring on Io.

The research team said that because Io’s surface is constantly changing due to volcanic activity, only millions of years of geological history remain. Instead, they said that information about Io’s volcanic history can be obtained by measuring stable isotopes of volatile elements in the atmosphere.

By looking at the isotopic composition of Io’s volatile chemical elements, such as sulfur and chlorine, we can understand the history of gas emissions and mass loss due to volcanic activity.

In this study, the research team observed gases in Io’s thin atmosphere using the world’s largest radio telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter-Submillimeter Assembly (ALMA), located in Chile, and observed stable sulfur (SO₂, SO, NaCl, KCl) molecules (SO₂, SO, NaCl, KCl) and chlorine isotopes (Cl-35, Cl-37) were measured in the gas.

Consequently, as materials continued to be recycled within Io and into the atmosphere due to volcanic activity, light isotopes continued to be lost from the upper atmosphere and the heavy isotope ratio of sulfur and chlorine isotopes increased significantly compared to the mean value. in the solar system.

As a result of analyzing the sulfur isotope ratio (S-34/S-32) and chlorine isotope ratio (Cl-37/Cl35), the research team found that these elements decreased to 94~97% of their original quantities through emissions and recycling processes during long-term volcanic activity% appeared to have disappeared.

The findings also indicate that Io has maintained its current level of volcanic activity for much or all of its history since its formation 4.57 billion years ago, and that gas emissions and mass loss rates were likely higher in its early days.

◆ Source: Science, Katherine de Kleer et al., ‘Isotopic evidence for long-lived volcanism on Io’, www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0625

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