Which Galilean moon of Jupiter is enveloped in a smooth, bright crust of water ice criss-crossed by lineae cracks, harboring a global subsurface liquid ocean containing more water than all of Earth's oceans combined?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Europa
- Step 1: Europa's icy surface is one of the smoothest in the Solar System, with very few impact craters indicating ongoing resurfacing.
- Step 2: Tidal flexing maintains a liquid saltwater ocean estimated at 60 to 150 kilometers deep beneath a 15-to-25-kilometer ice shell, making it a primary target in astrobiology.
Answer
Europa
Why not the others: 'Callisto' Callisto has an ancient, heavily cratered surface of rock and ice, lacking Europa's smooth, young active ice shell; 'Io' Io is a bone-dry, volcanically active rocky world covered in sulfur compounds; 'Ganymede' Ganymede is larger with an older grooved terrain, whereas Europa has the smoothest and youngest surface crust.
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