Io, Jupiter’s multicolored moon, is also the most volatile place in the solar system. Filled on its surface with incandescent sulfur, it has the most powerful active volcanic crater, Loki Patera , about 200 kilometers in diameter. Recently observed events suggest that it is more active than ever. Two huge lava waves move at different speeds along the magma lake, according to the journal Nature . This would explain the origin of the temperature differences detected by the telescopes two years ago.
In March 2015, Europa , another of Jupiter’s moons, hovered between Io and Earth, blocking the light reflected by Io. Because Europa is covered in water ice , it reflects very little sunlight, and this allowed telescopes to clearly capture temperature differences on Io’s surface . Now, a detailed map produced by a team from the University of California allows us to explain that these differences are actually due to two large lava waves , moving at different speeds from the west side of the volcano, and in a counterclockwise direction. Loki Patera has a large central land island, somewhat colder, and around which both waves converge.
The fact that there are two lava waves moving at different speeds also allows us to deduce that there are two sources that cause them: two episodic magma pulses that reach the surface at close but different times and places. Observations indicate that one of the waves emerges every 200 days and the other in a period of 75 days . Since its discovery in 1979 , it is known that Io has been permanently active, due to internal activity, and many more details are now known about its volcanic activity.
The constant eruptions of silicate lava, sulfur, and sulfur dioxide constantly change Io’s appearance, giving it yellow, purple, green, black, and red hues. A colorful world, but tremendously unstable.
Although Loki Patera is considered the most powerful active volcano in the solar system, the largest volcano ever found is located on Mars: it is Mount Olympus , three times higher than Everest and as wide as Spain. However, it has been declared extinct since, as far as is known, the internal activity of Mars must have ceased thousands of years ago .
References:
K. de Kleer. (2017). ‘Multi-phase volcanic resurfacing at Loki Patera on Io’. Nature. DOI: 10.1038
