A magnetically driven equatorial jet in Europa's ocean
arXiv:1903.04624 · doi:10.1038/s41550-019-0713-3
Abstract
During recent decades, data from space missions have provided strong evidence of deep liquid oceans underneath a thin outer icy crust on several moons of Jupiter, particularly Europa. But these observations have also raised many unanswered questions regarding the oceanic motions generated under the ice, or the mechanisms leading to the geological features observed on Europa. By means of direct numerical simulations of Europa's interior, we show here that Jupiter's magnetic field generates a retrograde oceanic jet at the equator, which may influence the global dynamics of Europa's ocean and contribute to the formation of some of its surface features by applying a unidirectional torque on Europa's ice shell.
arXiv comment10 pages, 4 figures + 1 Method section
References in corpus (4)
Cited by in corpus (5)
- Ocean dynamics of outer solar system satellites
- Dynamic Europa ocean shows transient Taylor columns and convection driven by ice melting and salinity
- Electromagnetic induction heating as a driver of volcanic activity on massive rocky planets
- A gyroscopic polynomial basis in the sphere
- New constraint on Europa's ice shell: magnetic signature from the ocean