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Plate Tectonics on Europa

Jet Propulsion Laboratory https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ Sept. 8, 2014
Scientists have found evidence of plate tectonics on Jupiter's moon Europa. This conceptual illustration of the subduction process.

Scientists have found evidence of plate tectonics on Jupiter's moon Europa. This conceptual illustration of the subduction process (where one plate is forced under another) shows how a cold, brittle, outer portion of Europa's 20-30 kilometer-thick (roughly 10-20 mile) ice shell moved into the warmer shell interior and was ultimately subsumed. A low-relief subsumption band was created at the surface in the overriding plate, alongside which cryolavas may have erupted.

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NASA/Noah Kroese, I.NK

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