There Might Be Oxygen Under Europa’s Ice Sheet

Whether there is life outside of Earth or not has been one of the most curious subjects since the early times when humanity turned its eyes to the sky. Jupiter’s moon Europa stands out as one of the top candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life.

The presence of a subterranean ocean on icy Europa indicates that the moon is hot, salty, and rich in life-enabled chemistry. New research provides new evidence that Europa is pulling oxygen under its icy crust and could feed simple life there.

Oxygen may be the last piece of understanding about Europa’s habitability

Whether there is life in Europa’s subterranean ocean has been a topic of debate for a long time, and it’s been debated for a long time. It remains essentially neutral until NASA sends the Europa Clipper there. The Europa mission needs to be meticulously designed so NASA bases some of its design on specific questions that scientists want Clipper to address. NASA designs missions with big questions in mind; however, they can only answer smaller, specific questions. That’s why scientists are studying different aspects of Europa and creating simulations to fine-tune the questions the mission should seek answers to.

At the heart of one of these questions is ‘oxygen’. Accordingly, it is thought that oxygen may be the last piece of understanding the habitability of Europa.

Generally speaking, Europa is believed to have most of what life needs in order to exist. It is known that Eurona, whose main component is water and has plenty of water in the underground ocean, has even more water than the world’s oceans.

However, it is noteworthy that this moon of Jupiter has the necessary chemical nutrients. Life needs energy to exist, and Europa’s source of energy is tides from Jupiter, which warms its interior and keeps the ocean from freezing solid; It is accepted as a long-established fact by most scientists.

The surface of the frozen moon also contains oxygen, another interesting sign of habitability. The oxygen in Europa is produced by sunlight and charged particles from Jupiter hitting the moon’s surface.

So how does oxygen reach the ocean from the thick ice sheet?

However, at this point, we come across a small problem. Europa’s thick ice sheet forms a barrier between oxygen and the ocean. The fact that Europa’s surface is frozen solid means that any life form that could exist here would have to be in the moon’s vast ocean. So how is it possible for oxygen to reach the ocean from the surface? Oxygen may be transported from the surface to the ocean by pools of saltwater in Europa’s icy crust, according to a new study.

These salty pools are located in the crust where some ice melts due to convection currents in the ocean. Above these pools is Europa’s famous and photogenic terrain of chaos. the terrain of chaos that covers approximately 25 percent of Europa’s frozen surface; It is stated that it is a place where ridges, cracks, faults and plains intermingle. While there is currently no clear understanding of why the land of chaos exists, it is thought that the reason behind it is likely related to unregulated underground heating and melting.

On the other hand, Europa’s ice sheet is estimated to be about 15 to 25 kilometers thick. According to a study conducted in 2011, it is stated that the chaos terrain on Europa can be found 3 km below the ice, above large lakes of liquid water. These lakes are not directly connected to the underground ocean; but it is thought to flow into the ocean. According to the aforementioned new research, it is suggested that salty lakes may mix with surface oxygen, and larger amounts of oxygen may accumulate in deeper underground oceans over time.

lead author of the study Marc Hesse, professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences, says: “Our research puts this process in the realm of the possible.”

86% of the oxygen on Europa’s surface is thought to reach the ocean

However, the researchers say that this oxygen goes into ice. It simulates how it reaches the ocean through its crust. Accordingly, oxygen-laden brine moves into the subterranean ocean in a wave of porosity. A wave of porosity momentarily expands the pores in the ice, before quickly closing again, transporting the brine through the ice, and this process continues for thousands of years, bringing oxygen-rich salt water to the ocean

(980). 0701) On the other hand, the relationship between the chaos field and oxygen transport is not entirely clear; But scientists think convective uplift caused by tidal warming partially melted the ice, manifesting as a chaotic terrain on the surface. Accordingly, for the oxygen-rich brine to flow into the ocean, the ice beneath the brine must have melted or partially melted. “For these salty waters to drain, the underlying ice must be permeable and therefore partially melted. Previous studies have shown that tidal warming raises the temperature of upward elevations in the carried portion of Europa’s ice crust up to the melting point of pure ice,” the study authors write. .

Also, Europa’s surface is quite cold considering it is covered in ice; However, it is stated that it is not cold enough to freeze so quickly that oxygen cannot be transported in salty waters. Accordingly, it is stated that the temperature at the poles of the satellite never rises above minus 220 C. But the results of the new model show that “refreezing at the surface is too slow to stop the drainage of brine and inhibit oxidant transmission to the inland ocean.” In other words, although the ice on Europa’s surface is frozen solid, the ice underneath is convective, which delays freezing. According to some studies, it is even claimed that the sea floor may be volcanic.

About 86 percent of the oxygen taken up on Europa’s surface is thought to reach the ocean, according to the study. This, in turn, creates an oxygen-rich ocean very similar to Earth’s, according to the highest estimate produced by the model. So, is it possible for something to live under the ice sheet? “It’s tempting to think of some kind of aerobic organism living right under the ice,” notes co-author Steven Vance, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and supervisor of the Planetary Interiors and Geophysics Group.

Data from the Clipper mission will be available in 2034 at the earliest

Kevin, one of the scientists closely interested in Europa’s life potential and the upcoming Europa Clipper mission Hand, on the other hand, expresses his hope that Hesse and his fellow researchers have solved the oxygen problem in the oceans of the frozen moon. Asking, “We know there are beneficial compounds like oxygen on Europa’s surface, but do they get it down to the ocean below where life can use them?” Hand answers, “In the work of Hesse and his collaborators, the answer seems to be yes.”

So, what questions might the Clipper mission seek to answer that could confirm these findings?At this point, Clipper’s design focuses on three big issues:

• Investigating the composition of the ocean to determine if it has the necessary components to sustain life
• Exploring the geology of the satellite to understand how the surface, including the chaos field, was formed
• Determining the thickness of the ice crust and whether there is liquid water in and below it, as well as determining how the ocean interacts with the surface: Anything in the ocean rises upward through the crust Any material from the surface descends into the ocean does he eat?

Of course, we have to wait for a while to learn the answers to these questions. The Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in October 2024; however, we will have to wait another 5.5 years for it to reach the Jupiter system. The scientific research phase, which will begin after the mission lands on the surface of the satellite, is expected to last up to 4 years. With all this, it seems that it will be possible to get answers to the above-mentioned questions in 2034 at the earliest.