Ice Cusps on Europa
Explanation:
Europa's icy crust has many unusual features.
Pictured above is part of
Europa's southern hemisphere photographed by the
Galileo spacecraft currently orbiting
Jupiter. Europa is one of the largest
moons of Jupiter, and is thought to have
oceans of water
underneath its ice-covered surface. Among many
cracks and ridges
appear dark cusp-shaped features running from the
lower left toward the upper right.
The origin of these features is not known for sure,
but their shape is thought to indicate that large portions of
Europa's crust move together,
similar to
tectonic motion of our
Earth's crust.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
