A team of researchers led by The University of Texas at Austin believe that the salty water in Jupiter's moon could potentially help sustain alien life by transporting oxygen into an ice-covered ocean of liquid water.
This theory has been proposed by others, but the researchers put it to the test by building the world's first physics-based computer simulation of the process, with oxygen hitching a ride on salt water under the moon.
The results show that the amount of oxygen brought into the ocean could be comparable to the amount in the ocean today.
The research puts this process into the realm of the possible and provides a solution to the problem of habitability.
The study was published in a journal.
Scientists have found signs of oxygen and water in the area, which makes it a top spot to look for alien life. The moon's ice shell is 15 miles thick and serves as a barrier between water and oxygen, which is generated by sunlight and charged particles from Jupiter.
Oxygen needs to be able to get to life in the ocean. The most plausible scenario is for the oxygen to be carried by salt water.
Scientists think that chaos terrains form above regions where the ice shell partially melts to form brine, which can mix with oxygen from the surface. The computer model created by the researchers shows what happens to the brine after it becomes chaotic.
The model showed the brine draining in a different way, taking the form of aporosity wave, that causes the ice to temporarily widen, allowing the brine to pass through before it seals up. The process is similar to a cartoon gag of a bulge of water going down a garden hose.
The mode of transport seems to bring oxygen through the ice with most of the oxygen taken up at the surface riding the wave all the way to the ocean. The available data allows for a wide range of oxygen levels delivered to the ocean.
According to co-author Steven Vance, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the supervisor of its Planetary Interiors and Geophysics Group, the highest estimate would make the oxygen levels in the ocean similar to those on Earth.
He said it was tempting to think of some kind of aerobic organisms living under the ice.
The Clipper mission may help improve estimates for oxygen and other ingredients for life on the icy moon.
Kevin Hand, a scientist who was not part of the study, said that the study presented a compelling explanation for oxygen transport on Europa.
The answer seems to be yes, because of the work by Hesse and his colleagues.
The Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, the UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, and the Jackson School are all where he works.
More information: Marc A. Hesse et al, Downward Oxidant Transport Through Europa's Ice Shell by Density-Driven Brine Percolation, Geophysical Research Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1029/2021GL095416 Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters Citation: On Jupiter's moon Europa, 'chaos terrains' could be shuttling oxygen to ocean (2022, March 24) retrieved 24 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-jupiter-moon-europa-chaos-terrains.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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