Hydrothermal systems on Europa

Abstract

We estimate the global hydrothermal heat transport on Europa by considering the range of heat generation resulting from tidal stresses and radiogenic heat production within Europa's rocky sub‐ocean lithosphere. We show that if factors controlling tidally generated heat on Europa are similar to those on Io, global hydrothermal heat output and its high‐temperature component may exceed that on Earth. On the individual system scale, however, the low acceleration of gravity on Europa indicates that individual hydrothermal plumes are relatively weak. Such weak hydrothermal plumes are not likely to result in melt through events, which have been hypothesized to form surface features such as Conamara Chaos. Studies of concentrated hydrothermal activity and the resulting interacting plumes are needed to address the possible impact of hydrothermal activity on Europa's ice sheet.