Jupiter's moon Europa is not what it looks like; shocking revelations from new study break scientists' decades-old beliefs
Jupiter's moon Europa has been a subject of deep study for scientists, which has led to several observations over decades. A study that was carried out recently revealed many fresh observations about the hidden chemistry of the icy moon's interior, which challenge the long-held beliefs of scientists.
According to the latest observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope, it was revealed that Europa's frozen surface is a dynamic world that's far from frozen in time. The findings came as a surprise to scientists who had pictured Europa's frozen surface as a still and silent shell for decades.
"We think that the surface is fairly porous and warm enough in some areas to allow the ice to recrystallize rapidly," Richard Cartwright, a spectroscopist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory and lead author of the new study, said in a statement, according to Space.com.
What's even more intriguing is what this surface activity tells us about Europa's subsurface ocean. The geologic activity and constant exchange between the surface and the subsurface make 'chaos terrains.' These are areas where ice blocks have broken apart, moved, and refrozen. These regions are especially valuable because they might offer direct access to what's happening inside Europa's interior. The latest study focused on two regions in Europa's southern hemisphere: Tara Regio and Powys Regio. Tara Regio stands out as one of the moon's most intriguing areas. According to observations from the JWST, crystalline ice exists both on Europa's surface and deeper below, challenging previous assumptions about how ice is distributed there.
Scientists can have access to valuable insights pertaining to Europa's chemistry as well as its potential for habitability, they explained in the paper, by measuring the spectral properties of these "chaos" regions using remotely sensed data. The paper was published on May 28, 2025, in The Planetary Science Journal."Our data showed strong indications that what we are seeing must be sourced from the interior, perhaps from a subsurface ocean nearly 20 miles (30 kilometers) beneath Europa's thick icy shell," Ujjwal Raut, program manager at the Southwest Research Institute and co-author of the study, said in the statement, Space.com reported.To understand how water freezes on Europa, Ujjwal Raut and his team carried out laboratory experiments. The surface is constantly bombarded on Europa by charged particles from space.The ice structure on Europa is disrupted by the intense radiation, which is not the case on Earth, where ice naturally forms a hexagonal crystal structure. The radiation on Europa causes the ice to become what's known as amorphous ice. It is a disordered, noncrystalline form.The experiments were crucial, as they played a key role in demonstrating how the ice changes over time. By studying the manner in which ice transforms between different states, scientists can learn more about the moon's surface dynamics. The observations through the experiments, combined with fresh data from JWST, add to a set of findings showing that a vast, hidden liquid ocean lies beneath Europa's icy shell."In this same region […] we see a lot of other unusual things, including the best evidence for sodium chloride, like table salt, probably originating from its interior ocean," Cartwright said. "We also see some of the strongest evidence for CO2 and hydrogen peroxide on Europa. The chemistry in this location is really strange and exciting," he added.These regions, marked by fractured surface features, may point to geologic activity pushing material up from beneath Europa's icy shell.
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