Planetary Volcanism, Cryovolcanism and Subsurface Ocean
Wei-Ling Tseng (Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University)
The solar system bodies with active volcanic eruptions we have observed are only Earth and Io (Jupiter’s satellite) so far. On the other hand, some icy bodies such as Enceladus and Europa are discovered with active cryovolcanism associated with the extrusion of liquid water and vapors which could be sourced from their subsurface oceans. The (possible) existences of subsurface oceans in those icy bodies also play an important role in the habitable worlds. We will study the chemical composition and exospheric distribution of the small bodies using with the ground-based radio observations (i.e., SMA and ALMA) and the numerical modelings (i.e., radiative transfer, exospheric model). This synergic project will provide crucial information of the outgassing events of these bodies and better constraints in their interior structures (i.e., Io and Europa). Therefore, this work will not only improve understanding of the evolution of ocean, atmosphere and life in early history of the solar system, but also build up a bridge for the upcoming space missions such as NASA Europa Clipper and ESA JUICE.
Required Background: Junior and senior students are preferred.