%0 Journal Article
%A Ruiz Pérez, Javier
%A Montoya, Lilia
%A López, Valle
%A Amils, Ricardo
%T Thermal Diapirism and the Habitability of the Icy Shellof Europa
%D 2007
%@ 0169-6149
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49338
%X Europa’s chaos and lenticulae features may have originated by thermal diapirsrelated to convective plumes. Warm ice plumes could be habitable, since their temperatureis close to the ice melting temperature. Moreover, thermal plumes intruding into the lowerstagnant lid warm several kilometers of country ice above 230 K for periods of 105 years,and hundreds of meters above 240 K for periods of 104 years. Diapir coalescencegenerating chaos areas should provide a large zone with temperature above ∼240 K forthousands of years. A temperature above ∼230 K is potentially interesting for astrobiology,since it corresponds to the lowest temperature at which microbial metabolic activity inAntarctic ice has been reported. So, the warming by thermal plumes could cause an aureoleof biological activation/reactivation in the country ice. Adaptation of life to either highsalinity or low temperature is similar: it requires the synthesis of compatible solutes, liketrehalose or glycerol, which are efficient cryoprotectants. We therefore propose that thefuture astrobiological exploration of Europa should include the search for compatiblesolutes in chaos and lenticulae features.
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