Jupiter’s moon Europa is thought to harbour a saltwater ocean beneath a variously disrupted ice shell, and it is, thus, one of the highest priority astrobiology targets in the Solar […]
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Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Sample Return
Ice Planet Research: Six-million-year-old Antarctic Ice Offers Glimpse Into Warmer Era Of Earth’s Past
A team of scientists from several U.S. institutions, including the University of Minnesota, discovered six million year old ice in Antarctica — the oldest dated ice on the planet.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
Experimental Investigation Of O2 Diffusion And Entrapment In Interstellar Amorphous Solid Water (ASW)
Interstellar ices are mainly composed of amorphous solid water (ASW) containing small amounts of hypervolatiles, such as O2, whose diffusion-limited reactions play a key role in space chemistry. Although O2 […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
How Does Ice Shell Geometry Shape Ocean Dynamics On Icy Moons?
A poleward-thinning ice shell can drive circulation in the subsurface oceans of icy moons by imposing a meridional temperature gradient–colder at the equator than the pole–through the freezing point suppression […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Where Water Comes From: A New Clue From Alien Worlds
For decades, scientists believed that Earth’s water originated far from the sun. In the cold outer reaches of the solar system, water-rich bodies formed and later migrated inward, delivering water […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Pristine Ices In A Planet-forming Disk Revealed By Heavy Water
Water is essential to our understanding of the planet-formation process and habitability on Earth.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Microstructure Controls Sublimation Timescales of Exposed Salt-Rich Ices on Icy Worlds
Salt-rich water ice at the surfaces of icy worlds, for example, Europa, Enceladus, and Ceres, is of particular interest for Solar System exploration as it can represent a record of […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ceres, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Fluid Flow In Ceres Due To Core Heating
A couple examples of molecules carrying chemical energy – carbon dioxide and methane – are included in the illustration.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report
Spectral Mixture Modeling with Laboratory Near-Infrared Data I: Insights into Compositional Analysis of Europa
Europa’s surface composition and physical characteristics are commonly constrained using spectral deconvolution through linear mixture (LM) modeling and radiative transfer-based (RT) intimate mixture modeling.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mars Crater Deposits Reveal A History Of Shrinking Ice Volumes Through Ages
For decades, scientists have been curious about how much water Mars once had and what led to its gradual transformation into the dry planet we see today.