Big surprise: what makes Europe's ice sheet rotate? Scientists point to ocean currents

NASA scientists have deduced from their studies why the outer shell of Europa, a moon of Jupiter, rotates at a different speed than its interior. Strong evidence from the study suggests that beneath Europa's icy crust lies a vast body of water moving across the moon's rocky interior. It is likely that water can push the crust and thereby affect the rotation of the moon's icy crust.

Although the moon's outer crust is known to rotate at different speeds, recent computer models by scientists have shown that ocean currents from Europa can help the crust rotate. 'It was already known from laboratory experiments and modeling that warming and cooling of the European ocean could drive currents,' said study lead author and Oxford University researcher Hamish Hay.

"Our results now show a connection between the ocean and the rotation of the ice crust that has never been considered before. The work could be important in understanding how the rotation rates of other oceanic worlds may have changed over time," Hay said, according to NASA's website. NASA's

next year. Previously, scientists thought that the difference in rotation was due to Jupiter's strong gravitational pull. However, the latest findings surprised the scientists: "For me, it was completely unexpected that what is happening in the ocean circulation could be enough to affect the ice crust.It was a big surprise," co-author Robert Pappalardo told Ocean Does. Pappalardo added, "Europa Clipper," a NASA mission to study Jupiter's moon in detail, is currently being assembled and tested. Its launch is scheduled for 2024 and will begin orbiting Jupiter in 2030.The main objective of the mission is to determine whether sea-occupied Europe is viable. "And now that we know the potential coupling of the inner oceans to their surfaces