Does Europa have an Ocean?

An image of Europa's surface, showing many features indicating the presence of a submerged ocean
Click on image for full size (56K jpeg)
Image courtesy of NASA
The surface of Europa shows many signs of that there may be an ocean under the surface:

* flooded terrain

* 'freckles'

* rafting

* 'mushy' craters, and

* spreading centers.

Taken together, these pieces of evidence make it virtually certain that there is an ocean under the icy surface of Europa.

Does Europa have an Ocean?

An image of Europa's surface, showing many features indicating the presence of a submerged ocean
Click on image for full size (56K jpeg)
Image courtesy of NASA
The surface of Europa shows many signs of that there may be an ocean under the surface:

* flooded terrain

* 'freckles'

* rafting

* 'mushy' craters, and

* spreading centers.

Taken together, these pieces of evidence show that there probably an ocean under the icy surface of Europa.

Does Europa have an Ocean?

An image of Europa's surface, showing many features indicating the presence of a submerged ocean
Click on image for full size (56K jpeg)
Image courtesy of NASA
The surface of Europa shows many signs of that there may be an ocean hidden underneath:

* flooded areas

* 'freckles'

* 'rafting'

* 'mushy' craters, and

* regions of spreading.

These clues make it pretty clear that there is an ocean under the icy surface of Europa.


Page created September 19, 2003 by Roberta Johnson.
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