Fractures on Europa - Possible response of an ice crust to tidal deformationThe surface of Europa contains a planetwide system of low albedo lineaments which have been interpreted as fractures in an icy crust. The pattern of fractures on the surface consists of radial and concentric fractures having the general appearance of tension cracks within a region near the antipode of the sub-Jupiter point. Outside this region, linear fractures intersect at angles near 60 deg, suggesting that they are conjugate shear fractures. The orientation of this pattern on the surface suggests that a principal axis of the deformation that produced the fractures was approximately radial to Jupiter. Fracturing may thus be consistent with an origin due to cyclical tidal deformation resulting from orbital eccentricity. Orbital eccentricity related to a relatively recent establishment of orbital resonance among the Galilean satellites may explain the presence of fractures in a relatively young, lightly cratered planetary surface.
Document ID
19820038834
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Helfenstein, P. (Brown Univ. Providence, RI, United States)
Parmentier, E. M. (Brown University Providence, RI, United States)