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Updated April 20th, 2022 at 18:04 IST

Greenland's similarity to Europa hints towards possibility of life on Jupiter's moon

Experts from Stanford University using ice-penetrating radar data have found that shallow water pockets, like those in Greenland, may be common in Europa.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
Greenland
Image: NASA | Image:self
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Looking for alien life just got interesting as new research has found similarities between the geographical features in Greenland and Jupiter’s Moon Europa. Experts from Stanford University using ice-penetrating radar data have found that shallow water pockets, like those in Greenland, may be common within Europa’s ice shell. Scientists believe that this characteristic increases the potential habitability of the Jovian moon’s ice shell.

Europa becomes prime candidate for hosting alien life

The radar data collected by Stanford experts revealed the formation of a “double ridge” feature in Greenland which, according to them, suggest the ice shell of Europa may have an abundance of water pockets beneath similar features. According to the findings, which have been published in Nature Communications, these water pockets may be a potential site to look for habitability.

(Artist’s conception showing double ridges on Europa; Image: Justice Blaine Wainwright/Stanford)

The icy moon has captivated scientists for decades since it hides a deep saltwater ocean beneath its surfaces which can measure kilometres in thickness. While this thick icy crust was seen as a barrier, the new findings suggest that this might be a site of alien life instead. Having a diameter of 3,100 km, Europa is the fourth largest Moon of Jupiter and is bigger than Pluto. 

Ridges on Greenland Vs Europa

Talking about the discovery, Dustin Schroeder, an associate professor of geophysics at Stanford Earth said in an official statement, "We were working on something totally different related to climate change and its impact on the surface of Greenland when we saw these tiny double ridges – and we were able to see the ridges go from ‘not formed’ to ‘formed". They concluded that the  “M”-shaped double ridge in Greenland could be a miniature version of the most prominent feature on Europa.

The scientists noted that the same double ridges on Europa has crests reaching nearly 1000 feet and appear as dramatic gashes across the icy surface. They also found that the crests are separated by valleys which are about a kilometre wide. Comparing the formation of these ridges on Earth, lead study author Riley Culberg from Stanford said, "In Greenland, this double ridge formed in a place where water from surface lakes and streams frequently drains into the near-surface and refreezes". 

"One way that similar shallow water pockets could form on Europa might be through water from the subsurface ocean being forced up into the ice shell through fractures – and that would suggest there could be a reasonable amount of exchange happening inside of the ice shell', he added. Scientists say that these ridges were being studied for about 20 years now but it is the first time when they were able to watch something similar on Earth. 

"The mechanism we put forward in this paper would have been almost too audacious and complicated to propose without seeing it happen in Greenland,” Schroeder said.

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Published April 20th, 2022 at 18:04 IST

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