Browsing by Author "Mayne, Matthew J."

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    A metamorphic origin for Europa's ocean
    (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2021) Daswani, Mohit Melwani; Vance, Steven D.; Mayne, Matthew J.; Glein, Christopher R.
    Europa likely contains an iron-rich metal core. For it to have formed, temperatures within Europa reached urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-00011250 K. Going up to that temperature, accreted chondritic minerals — for example, carbonates and phyllosilicates — would partially devolatilize. Here, we compute the amounts and compositions of exsolved volatiles. We find that volatiles released from the interior would have carried solutes, redox-sensitive species, and could have generated a carbonic ocean in excess of Europa's present-day hydrosphere, and potentially an early urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-0002 atmosphere. No late delivery of cometary water was necessary. Contrasting with prior work, urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-0003 could be the most abundant solute in the ocean, followed by urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-0004, urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-0005, and urn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-0006. However, gypsum precipitation going from the seafloor to the ice shell decreases the dissolved S/Cl ratio, such that Clurn:x-wiley:00948276:media:grl62926:grl62926-math-0007S at the shallowest depths, consistent with recently inferred endogenous chlorides at Europa's surface. Gypsum would form a 3–10 km thick sedimentary layer at the seafloor.