Scientists think Europa has a salty ocean beneath its icy crust with about twice as much water than all of Earth's oceans combined. Water dissolves nutrients for organisms to eat, transports important chemicals within living cells, supports metabolism, and allows those cells to get rid of waste.
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In the 1960s, ground-based telescope observations determined that Europa's surface composition is mostly water ice, as are most other solid bodies of the outer ...
Oct 1, 2021 · Europa's surface is covered in a thick layer of ice, meaning there is no water on the surface. However, Europa is stretched and compressed as it ...
Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron–nickel core. It has a very thin atmosphere, ...
Nov 13, 2023 · Europa harbors a vast ocean underneath its icy surface, which might offer conditions hospitable for life.
Are there oceans on other planets? - National Ocean Service
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Jan 18, 2024 · Scientists believe many planets and moons have subsurface oceans. ... Europa may have subsurface liquid water. Scientists hypothesize that ...
Apr 19, 2022 · Subterranean pools of salty water may be commonplace on Jupiter's moon, Europa, according to researchers who believe the sites could be ...
Oct 17, 2023 · If confirmed, little Europa could contain two or three times as much water as all the oceans on Earth. The existence of such a liquid ocean also ...
Jun 12, 2019 · Because the exterior is essentially formed from frozen seawater, the finding suggests that Europa's hidden sea is drenched in table salt—a ...