Lessons can be learned from studying unusual processes of how ice accumulates below ice shelves.
Researchers studied two types of underwater snow on Earth in order to understand how Europa's shell develops from beneath. Frazil ice forms in water columns and floats to the bottom of ice shelves, while congelation ice grows from under the ice shelf. The researchers found that ice formed by these processes only retains a small amount of salt from the water that it came from. According to the study, Frazil ice could be common on Europa and could be an order of magnitude purer than previously thought.
One of the things that will govern its potential habitability or even the type of life that may live there is the ocean's composition.
NASA snapped a beautiful new photo of Jupiter's moons.
It is possible that the new information will inform the upcoming exploration ofEuropa. The level of salt in the ice can affect the radar's ability to see into the ice shell. Scientists will be able to make sense of the data after the mission is done.
The size of the Earth's moon is roughly the size of Jupiter's large moons. While it has a rocky mantle, scientists believe that it is surrounded by a hidden ocean of water and ice.
It has been suggested that the temperature, pressure and salinity of the ocean closest to the ice is similar to that found beneath an ice shelf.
The paper was published in a journal.
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