Overview
- Researchers modeled Europa’s size, rocky core makeup, and Jupiter’s tidal forces to infer present-day seafloor strength and thermal conditions.
- The analysis concludes there is little to no active faulting, volcanism, or hydrothermal venting at the ocean floor.
- Such inactivity would limit rock–water reactions that generate chemical energy, making the seafloor environment today unfavorable for life.
- Tidal heating likely keeps the ocean from freezing yet appears too weak to drive seafloor tectonics, unlike the extreme volcanism on Io.
- The Nature Communications study evaluates current conditions only, and its predictions will be probed by NASA’s Europa Clipper starting in 2031 and ESA’s JUICE in 2032.