Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system with 4.5 billion years of eruptions.
Io's volcanic activity extends beyond its surface with the formation of obsidian glass.
Io's volcanic activity is caused by its gravitational relationship with Jupiter and neighboring moons.
Loki Patera, a lake of lava on Io, has a smooth surface due to sinking crust.
Io, a moon of Jupiter, has been the most volcanically active body in the solar system for approximately 4.5 billion years. This is according to recent studies that analyzed sulfur and chlorine isotopes in Io's atmosphere using data from ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array). The findings suggest that Io's volcanic activity has been ongoing since the beginning of the solar system.
Io, which is smaller than Mercury, experiences intense volcanism due to its gravitational relationship with Jupiter and its neighboring moons Europa and Ganymede. This constant tug-of-war causes Io to be stretched and squeezed, resulting in the creation of lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes.
One notable feature on Io is Loki Patera, a lake of lava with an island within it. The lake's surface remains smooth due to the cooling crust that thickens and sinks, pulling in the nearby crust. This process creates a new surface for the lava to flow over.
Io's volcanic activity is not limited to its surface; obsidian glass may have formed on its surfaces where it cooled enough to solidify. This glass is created when volcanic material cools and hardens rapidly, trapping gas bubbles within it.
The evidence of Io's long-term volcanic activity challenges previous assumptions about the moon's geological history and offers new insights into the processes that shape planetary bodies in our solar system.
Juno spacecraft captured a view of Io, Jupiter’s volcanic moon during its 60th orbit around Jupiter.
Io is in a constant tug-of-war between nearby objects including Jupiter and its Galilean siblings (Europa and Ganymede), causing it to be stretched and squeezed which results in the creation of lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes.
Io has been in turmoil for at least 4.57 billion years.
Io is in orbital resonance with Europa and Ganymede, which causes its shape to be compressed and stretched out every orbit, generating friction in the moon’s mantle and producing enough heat to melt rock.
Io has lost as much as 94% to 96% of its lighter sulfur isotopes due to continuous recycling between the moon’s interior and its atmosphere over billions of years.
