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Europa’s Heaving Ice might make more Heat than Scientists thought

As the moon Europa's icy shell is pushed and pulled by Jupiter's gravity, it heaves up and down. That process creates enough heat, scientists think, to create a global subsurface ocean on Europa. Experiments by Brown University researchers suggests that this heating process, known as tidal dissipation, creates more heat in ice that scientists have generally assumed. The insight could help scientists model the thickness of Europa's icy shell. Credit: NASA/JPL

As the moon Europa’s icy shell is pushed and pulled by Jupiter’s gravity, it heaves up and down. That process creates enough heat, scientists think, to create a global subsurface ocean on Europa. Experiments by Brown University researchers suggests that this heating process, known as tidal dissipation, creates more heat in ice that scientists have generally assumed. The insight could help scientists model the thickness of Europa’s icy shell. Credit: NASA/JPL

Jupiter’s moon Europa is under a constant gravitational assault. As it orbits, Europa’s icy surface heaves and falls with the pull of Jupiter’s gravity, creating enough heat to support a global ocean beneath the moon’s solid shell...

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