Science Alert
16 August 2022
The shell of Jupiter’s famous ice moon may be formed, in part, by pure underwater snow that floats up instead of falling down.
A new study, published in the August issue of the journal Astrobiology, finds that Europa’s icy crust might be built partially by “frazil ice,” a fluffy accumulation of ice crystals that also builds up beneath ice sheets on Earth. This frazil ice holds a fraction of the salt found in ice that grows from the ice shelf itself, suggesting that Europa’s ice sheets may be less salty than previously believed.