Good answers! Great answers. My questioning of the models is that we
don't know the interior structure or properties of the moons so we can't
calculate the tidal heating, which is dissipative.
For Europa to have thin ice (5 km), we need something like 10^13 (10
trillion) w
is problem once in a planetary science course once.
The tidal heating of Jovian moons is caused by a kind of "argument"
between two factors. Each moon wants to orient itself (by matching
its spin to it's orbital period) so that one side always faces
Jupiter. The moon is actually
Hi,
I'm going to chime in on the heating issue, since I beat the heck out of
this problem once in a planetary science course once.
The tidal heating of Jovian moons is caused by a kind of "argument" between
two factors. Each moon wants to orient itself (by matching its spin t
--- Christopher England <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Europa places the same face to Jupiter all of the
> time, as do most
> satellites. I guess that it's the tidal heating
> that eventually
> dissipates the rotational energy. I don't know of
> any oth
I love this topic.
Europa places the same face to Jupiter all of the time, as do most
satellites. I guess that it's the tidal heating that eventually
dissipates the rotational energy. I don't know of any other mechanism.
Jupiter doesn't continually flex Europa as in the
Title: Re: Questions about "tidal
heating"
Good examples, Michael. If you want another example of how
tidal friction might affect heating of Europa's silicate mantle and
possible Fe-Ni core, just look at the images of Io, the nearest
neighbor and most volcanically active featu
--- Original Message -
From:
Mark
Schnitzius
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003
9:32 PM
Subject: Questions about "tidal
heating"
I had originally heard that heat might be being generated in the
(presumed) Europan
ocean via geothermal venting
f its proximity to Jupiter.
My questions are: What is the mechanism behind this "tidal heating"? Is it plates of
the mantel sliding against each other as Europa is stretched, or something like that?
What specific areas are heated due to tidal effects? Surely not the whole moon,
uniformly. An
