When
Noon, March 4, 2013
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences 309
Dr. Christopher Hamilton
Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park
Host: Shane Byrne
Volcanism on Jupiter's Moon Io
Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, but unlike the Earth, Io does not exhibit evidence of plate tectonics and its internal heating comes primarily from tidal dissipation rather than radiogenic sources. Nonetheless, volcanic systems on Io exhibit some similarities to mantle-plume fed hotspots on Earth. Here, volcanism on Io is compared to the Hawaiian hotspot and then the spatial distributions of Ionian hotpots are examined in detail to test predictions from a range of interior tidal heating models. Results show a statistically significant eastward offset between locations of enhanced volcanism and predicted surface heat flux maxima. Possible explanations for this offset are explored along with implications for other tidally heated bodies.
Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park
Host: Shane Byrne
Volcanism on Jupiter's Moon Io
Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, but unlike the Earth, Io does not exhibit evidence of plate tectonics and its internal heating comes primarily from tidal dissipation rather than radiogenic sources. Nonetheless, volcanic systems on Io exhibit some similarities to mantle-plume fed hotspots on Earth. Here, volcanism on Io is compared to the Hawaiian hotspot and then the spatial distributions of Ionian hotpots are examined in detail to test predictions from a range of interior tidal heating models. Results show a statistically significant eastward offset between locations of enhanced volcanism and predicted surface heat flux maxima. Possible explanations for this offset are explored along with implications for other tidally heated bodies.
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