Evidence of a global magma ocean in Io's interior

Extensive volcanism and high-temperature lavas hint at a global magma reservoir in Io, but no direct evidence has been available. We exploited Jupiter's rotating magnetic field as a sounding signal and show that the magnetometer data collected by the Galileo spacecraft near Io provide evidence...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2011-06, Vol.332 (6034), p.1186-1189
Main Authors: Khurana, Krishan K, Jia, Xianzhe, Kivelson, Margaret G, Nimmo, Francis, Schubert, Gerald, Russell, Christopher T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Evidence
Jupiter
Magma
Oceans
Volcanoes
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Summary:Extensive volcanism and high-temperature lavas hint at a global magma reservoir in Io, but no direct evidence has been available. We exploited Jupiter's rotating magnetic field as a sounding signal and show that the magnetometer data collected by the Galileo spacecraft near Io provide evidence of electromagnetic induction from a global conducting layer. We demonstrate that a completely solid mantle provides insufficient response to explain the magnetometer observations, but a global subsurface magma layer with a thickness of over 50 kilometers and a rock melt fraction of 20% or more is fully consistent with the observations. We also place a stronger upper limit of about 110 nanoteslas (surface equatorial field) on the dynamo dipolar field generated inside Io.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1201425