Post contributed by Dr. Elodie Lesage, Laboratory of Geosciences Paris-Saclay, University of Paris-Saclay.

The young (60-100 Myrs) and active surface of the Jupiter’s icy moon Europa includes various geological features. In some locations, smooth plains have been observed on Europa, defined as features with no visible texture and an albedo lower than the surrounding terrains. The smooth plains overprint the preexisting terrains, and are confined within basins bounded by topographically high features.

Image 1: Four smooth plains on Europa. The arrows show the sunlight direction. Galileo images: (a) Image 5452r, resolution: 27 m/px; (b) Image 0713r, resolution: 57 m/px; (c) Image 0739r, resolution: 57 m/px; (d) Image 9352r, resolution: 60 m/px.

The best-resolved images of Europa’s surface were acquired by the Galileo spacecraft between 1996 and 2001. Image 1 shows four smooth plains visible in Galileo images, which share the following common characteristics: i) thin features occupying topographic lows, ii) a smooth appearance with little or no visible texture, and iii) kilometer-scale width with a quasi-circular, lobate shape. The morphology of these features suggests that they result from the flow of low-viscosity fluid, such as liquid cryomagma (i.e., briny water coming from Europa’s interior).