After all, Jupiter’s moon Io doesn’t have a lava ocean

Io, Jupiter’s moon known for its intense volcanic activity, does not have a magma ocean beneath its outer crust.

The intense volcanic activity of Io it is attributed to tidal forces produced by the gravitational interaction with Jupiter. The planet’s gravitational pull varies along Io’s elliptical orbit, deforming the moon and producing internal heat.

Scientists believed that this energy was enough to melt the moon’s interior, forming a magma ocean beneath the surface.

To test it, the team measured Io’s tidal deformation during two recent Juno spacecraft flybys and, by combining the data with historical observations, were able to calculate the extent of the deformation experienced by the moon.

According to , the results do not correspond to what would be expected if there were a magma ocean beneath the surface, this is because the deformation is much smaller, an indication that Io has a predominantly solid mantle.

This discovery indicates that tidal forces do not always create magma oceans, a finding that could be relevant to the study of other volcanically active moons, such as Enceladus and Europa, which orbit Saturn.

It is true that the presence of a shallow magma ocean has been ruled out, but scientists do not exclude the possibility of there being magma regions at greater depths. Still, other missions and observations will be needed to confirm this hypothesis.

The was published this month in Nature.