Europa, a moon of Jupiter, has garnered scientific interest for its potential to harbor life, given its nutrients, water, and energy. New research suggests that Europa might not have the expected heat-driven processes like a metallic core or seafloor volcanism, making its habitability uncertain.’s moons, Europa stands out as a captivating subject for researchers due to compelling indications of essential elements like nutrients, water, and energy sources.
Like Earth, Europa’s ocean touches the rocky seafloor, which may allow for rock-water chemistry favorable for life. Some scientists also believe that the seafloor may host volcanoes, which can provide more energy and nutrients for a potential biosphere. “For most worlds in the solar system, we tend to think of their internal structure as being set shortly after they finish forming. This work is very exciting because it reframes Europa as a world whose interior has been slowly evolving over its whole lifetime. This opens doors for future research to understand how these changes might be observed in the Europa we see today,” said Carver Bierson, a postdoctoral research scholar at ASU’s School Of Earth and Space Exploration.
However, all of these processes require a hot interior. A small moon like Europa may not have enough energy to trigger or sustain Earth-like processes—metallic core formation, seafloor volcanism, and ongoing rock-water geochemistry—which implies that Europa’s habitable potential is uncertain. The exact time at which Europa formed determines how much heat is available from the radioactive decay of a short-lived isotope of aluminum.
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