Ocean Archives - Page 2 of 3

Ice Plumes of Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus May Hold Amino Acids, Study Suggests

By News Staff December 5, 2023

Enceladus is a prime target in the search for life in the Solar System, identified by NASA as the second-highest priority site for a flagship mission in the next decade.…

Juno Detects Various Salts and Organic Compounds on Ganymede

By News Staff November 1, 2023

Using data from the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary scientists have detected hydrated sodium chloride, ammonium chloride and sodium/ammonium carbonate, as well as organic compounds…

Europa’s Carbon Dioxide Originates from Source within Its Subsurface Ocean, Planetary Scientists Say

By News Staff September 22, 2023

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa has an ocean beneath a crust of water ice. Solid carbon dioxide has previously been observed on the surface, but the source was unknown. Two teams…

New Research Sheds More Light on Evolution of Europa’s Interior

By News Staff June 19, 2023

Many planetary scientists studying Jupiter’s moon Europa assumed that it formed with a metallic core during or shortly after accretion. New research from Arizona State University contradicts that prediction, instead…

Phosphorus, Rare Building Block for Life, Discovered at Enceladus

By News Staff June 15, 2023

Phosphorus has not previously been detected in oceans beyond those on Earth and this discovery provides a promising step forward in our understanding of ocean worlds. Saturn’s moon Enceladus with…

Four Uranian Moons Host Subsurface Oceans, New Research Suggests

By News Staff May 5, 2023

The five large moons of Uranus — Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon — are important targets for future spacecraft missions. Studying these bodies would help address the extent of…

Vikings Abandoned Southwest Greenland Due in Part to Sea-Level Rise, New Research Suggests

By News Staff April 18, 2023

The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how they lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in the 15th century remain enigmatic. Hypotheses…

Rotation of Europa’s Ice Shell May Be Controlled By Dynamics of Subsurface Ocean: Study

By News Staff March 14, 2023

The subsurface ocean of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is heated from below via tidal heating and radioactive decay of the rocky interior, while being cooled from above by its frozen…

Planetary Scientists Create Two New Forms of Extraterrestrial Ice

By News Staff February 21, 2023

University of Washington researcher Baptiste Journaux and colleagues believe the newly-created substances could form at the surface and bottom of deep oceans on Jupiter’s icy moons Europa and Ganymede. This…

Charon’s Freezing Ocean Produced Huge Canyons on Its Surface, Modeling Study Suggests

By News Staff February 8, 2023

When ocean-bearing moons begin to cool down, their oceans can freeze. As new ice accretes to the bottom of the existing ice shell, the added volume of the ice can…