New Measurements of Europa’s Ice Shell Taint the Icy Moon’s Potential Habitability

This illustration shows a cut-away view of Europa's icy shell, with the gas giant Jupiter in the background. New research shows that the icy shell is up to 39 km thick. That's a significant barrier to life-supporting surface chemicals reaching the ocean. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/Koji Kuramura/ Gerald Eichstädt (CC BY)

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is a tantalizing target in the search for habitability in our Solar System. Its thick, global ice sheet overlies a warm, salty, chemically-rich ocean. But for life to exist in that ocean, nutrients need to find their way from the surface to the ocean. New research says that may be very difficult.

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