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oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/493382023-08-25T13:31:31Zcom_20.500.14352_14col_20.500.14352_15

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Ruiz Pérez, Javier author Montoya, Lilia author López, Valle author Amils, Ricardo author 2007 Europa’s chaos and lenticulae features may have originated by thermal diapirs related to convective plumes. Warm ice plumes could be habitable, since their temperature is close to the ice melting temperature. Moreover, thermal plumes intruding into the lower stagnant 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 coalescence generating chaos areas should provide a large zone with temperature above ∼240 K for thousands of years. A temperature above ∼230 K is potentially interesting for astrobiology, since it corresponds to the lowest temperature at which microbial metabolic activity in Antarctic ice has been reported. So, the warming by thermal plumes could cause an aureole of biological activation/reactivation in the country ice. Adaptation of life to either high salinity or low temperature is similar: it requires the synthesis of compatible solutes, like trehalose or glycerol, which are efficient cryoprotectants. We therefore propose that the future astrobiological exploration of Europa should include the search for compatible solutes in chaos and lenticulae features. 0169-6149 10.1007/s11084-007-9068-3 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49338 http://springerlink.com/content/102974 Thermal Diapirism and the Habitability of the Icy Shell of Europa