Europa’s Eruptions Likely from Shallow Surface Lakes

Computer models find that eruptions seen on Europa are likely coming from shallow lakes embedded in the ice rather than the subsurface ocean as expected.

Jupiter’s moon Europa likely has a global subsurface ocean that could be habitable. For that reason, NASA is sending the Europa Clipper spacecraft to collect data on the icy moon and possibly even sample some of the plumes that erupt from the surface. Now, in a new paper in the Planetary…