Kevin TrinhDec 11, 2022
Going to #AGU2022? Interested in ocean worlds? I will be giving a talk at AGU in Chicago this Friday at 9 AM CT! Soon, I will discuss how Jupiter's moon, Europa, could have had a slow but eventful evolution since the satellite formed. https://t.co/24RCzcFxR1
Slow Evolution of Europa: Metamorphic Ocean Origin, Delayed Metallic Core Formation, and Limited Seafloor Volcanism.

Europa today is assumed to have four layers—a metallic core, silicate mantle, l...

AGU - Fall Meeting 2022
Show threadKevin Trinh

Europa is famously known as an ocean world, but over 90% of the moon's mass comes from rock and metal! To understand Europa's habitable potential, we must understand how the rock-metal interior changed over geologic timescales.

Europa has only ~100x less mass than Earth. Such a small body probably cannot form a metallic core off accretional heat alone. Instead, it's reasonable to speculate Europa's initial state (after accretion) to be a cold mixture of hydrated silicates and metal.

Dec 11, 2022 at 5:24pmWeb
Show threadKevin TrinhDec 11, 2022
Hydrated silicates (or rocks) can act as a heat sink, thus suppressing the warming of the interior. If Europa indeed form with lots of hydrated silicates, then Europa may not reach core-forming temperatures for billions of years after accretion, if Europa ever got this hot at all.
Show threadKevin TrinhDec 11, 2022

This is important because Europa's interior evolution affects the seafloor environment. Does Europa have a basaltic seafloor with hydrothermal vents and volcanism? Or is the seafloor cool, hydrated, and chemically inactive? The former is better for life as we know it.

My talk will kickoff an exciting interdisciplinary session on ice and ocean worlds, happening in McCormick Place - S403b at 9 AM. Hope to see you there!
https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm22/meetingapp.cgi/Session/174350

Ice and Ocean Worlds: Geology, Oceanography, Chemistry, Habitability I Oral

This annual, exciting interdisciplinary session brings together studies of icy and ocean worlds in our own solar system (Earth, Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Ganymede, Triton, frozen dwarf planets like Pluto!) and possibilities in extra-solar systems! We want to understand processes that may be occurring within such worlds from a multi-/inter-disciplinary perspective. What geological, geochemical and/or oceanographic processes might contribute to the evolution of such bodies? The habitability of these icy worlds can be assessed through geophysical measurements of their interior temperatures and compositions. How might current studies relate to, or be tested by, past/ongoing/upcoming missions? We seek to bridge Earth and planetary sciences to enable a mix of ideas and expertise from Mercury to Pluto and all in between. We encourage contributions on any topic relating to the icy/ocean world theme, including geophysics, geodynamic modeling, seismic waveform modeling/inversion, hydrogeology, geochemistry, microbiology, in-situ/remote sensing observations, theoretical/modeling/laboratory work, analog field investigations, and more.

AGU - Fall Meeting 2022