Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission
Understanding the interior structures of icy moons is pivotal for addressing their origins and habitability. We introduce an approach employing the gravity field spectrum as an additional constraint for the inversion of differentiated icy bodies’ interior structures. After developing the general met...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad1933 |
| _version_ | 1797300475519827968 |
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| author | G. Cascioli E. Mazarico A. J. Dombard F. Nimmo |
| author_facet | G. Cascioli E. Mazarico A. J. Dombard F. Nimmo |
| author_sort | G. Cascioli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding the interior structures of icy moons is pivotal for addressing their origins and habitability. We introduce an approach employing the gravity field spectrum as an additional constraint for the inversion of differentiated icy bodies’ interior structures. After developing the general methodology, we apply it to Europa, utilizing the predicted measurement capability of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, and we prove its effectiveness in resolving key geophysical parameters. Notably, we show that using the gravity field spectrum in combination with the mass and moment of inertia of the body allows us to estimate, depending on the considered end-member interior structure, the hydrosphere thickness with 4–20 km uncertainty and reliably determine the seafloor maximum topographic range and elastic thickness to within 100–600 m and 5–15 km, respectively, together with the power–degree relationship of the seafloor topography. We also show that the proposed method allows us to determine the density of the silicate mantle and the radius of the core to within 0.25 g cc ^−1 and 50 km, respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:07:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-23fa3ec984d9420285135ed9e1922dc1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:07:48Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-23fa3ec984d9420285135ed9e1922dc12024-02-21T18:22:51ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382024-01-01524510.3847/PSJ/ad1933Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper MissionG. Cascioli0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9070-7947E. Mazarico1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3456-427XA. J. Dombard2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7897-6079F. Nimmo3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3573-5915University of Maryland Baltimore County , 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USANASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USAUniversity of Illinois at Chicago , 1200 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607, USAUniversity of California Santa Cruz , 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USAUnderstanding the interior structures of icy moons is pivotal for addressing their origins and habitability. We introduce an approach employing the gravity field spectrum as an additional constraint for the inversion of differentiated icy bodies’ interior structures. After developing the general methodology, we apply it to Europa, utilizing the predicted measurement capability of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, and we prove its effectiveness in resolving key geophysical parameters. Notably, we show that using the gravity field spectrum in combination with the mass and moment of inertia of the body allows us to estimate, depending on the considered end-member interior structure, the hydrosphere thickness with 4–20 km uncertainty and reliably determine the seafloor maximum topographic range and elastic thickness to within 100–600 m and 5–15 km, respectively, together with the power–degree relationship of the seafloor topography. We also show that the proposed method allows us to determine the density of the silicate mantle and the radius of the core to within 0.25 g cc ^−1 and 50 km, respectively.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad1933EuropaPlanetary interiorHydrosphereMarkov chain Monte CarloGalilean satellitesPlanetary science |
| spellingShingle | G. Cascioli E. Mazarico A. J. Dombard F. Nimmo Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission The Planetary Science Journal Europa Planetary interior Hydrosphere Markov chain Monte Carlo Galilean satellites Planetary science |
| title | Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission |
| title_full | Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission |
| title_fullStr | Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission |
| title_short | Leveraging the Gravity Field Spectrum for Icy Satellite Interior Structure Determination: The Case of Europa with the Europa Clipper Mission |
| title_sort | leveraging the gravity field spectrum for icy satellite interior structure determination the case of europa with the europa clipper mission |
| topic | Europa Planetary interior Hydrosphere Markov chain Monte Carlo Galilean satellites Planetary science |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad1933 |
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