Greenland Structures Provide Clue for Europan Ice

Ice-penetrating radar observations of “double-ridge” features in the Greenland Ice Sheet match similar features found on Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

IMAGE: This artist’s conception shows how double ridges on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa may form over shallow, refreezing water pockets within the ice shell. This mechanism is based on the study of an analogous double ridge feature found on Earth’s Greenland Ice Sheet. CREDIT: Justice Blaine Wainwright

While Io is a volcanic and lava-covered little world, Europa is known as an icy world. It’s another of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, and it’s considered a potential location for life beyond Earth. As such, scientists are always looking for the why of how the ice shell formed, how it cracked, why there are cryogenic geysers, and if any or all of that could contribute to suitable conditions for harboring life.

Since we haven’t (yet) sent a mission directly to Europa — and I won’t talk about upcoming, not-yet-launched missions — we have to look to Earth analogs for clues about the workings of ice on that distant moon. And scientists think they may have found one clue in ice-penetrating radar observations of “double ridge” features in the Greenland Ice Sheet, and their results were published in Nature Communications.

These ridges were not expected, and they’re considered a minor feature here on Earth, but on Europa, they streak the moon. Senior author Dustin Schroeder noted: We were working on something totally different related to climate change and its impact on the surface of…