By Bozana Basalt Volcanoes aren’t just found on Earth, they are scattered over other rocky planets and moons in the Solar System. If you ask a planetary scientist, planets orbiting other suns may also have them! Here at Superheated Science, our love for volcanoes isn’t bound by our home planet. Volcanoes are fissures in the rocky crust of a moon or a planet where hot magma, ash and gases can be spewed out (1). Many planets and moons in the Solar System are considered “geologically dead” (2) meaning that unlike the Earth, they do not have plate tectonics which are driven by the convecting (transport of heat) mantle. So how do space volcanoes work? Many of us are familiar with the planet Jupiter. It’s the largest planet in the Solar System and has an incredible 67 moons! The most superheated one happens to be Io. Io is about the size of the Earth’s moon (4). Despite being so far away from the sun, and so small, it contains the largest number of active volcanoes in the Solar System! The moon is covered in large volcanic craters known as ‘calderas’ that spew out liquid lava around the volcanoes. Being so far away from the Sun, the surface of Io reaches a freezing -130°C! So, when a volcanic eruption occurs, the hot ash turns to snow as soon as it reaches the surface! (1) Io’s volcanic activity is caused by internal friction. This happens because Io is small and Jupiter is much larger. Jupiter’s gravity combined with the gravity of its other moons pull on Io, causing it to deform on the inside. The deformation creates waves on the inside of Io, and as this is a continuous process, the waves create friction which heats Io and produces volcanic activity (5). Other moons like Enceladus (which orbits Saturn) and Triton (which orbits Neptune) have volcanoes that spew out gasses such as methane, ammonia and water instead of/or with molten rock. These volcanoes are known as ‘cryovolcanoes’. They are thought to be formed from pressurised liquid pockets that exist close to the surface of the moon, kept in its liquid state by the internal heat. When the pressure gets too much the liquid travels up quickly resulting in an eruption (5). Io has some as well. Enceladus has an icy surface and its cryovolcanoes were observed when the spacecraft, Cassini, flew through one of these eruptions of frozen gas in 2005. Triton’s volcanic activity was discovered in 1989, making it the first volcanically active moon to be discovered. An eruption plume of nitrogen gas about 10km high was observed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft (5)! The most famous space volcano—one you may have heard of—is Olympus Mons, located on Mars. Olympus Mons is a shield volcano and the largest volcano in the entire Solar System, standing at 25km high and a diameter of 624km! The Earth’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa, is 10km high and 120km wide. It could fit into Olympus Mons 100 times (9)! Olympus Mons is so big because Mars doesn’t have moving tectonic plates, and so the lava from eruptions continuously builds up forming very large volcanoes (9). Being a good scientist is all about helping other scientists get their work out there! That’s why we always credit our sources of information, as should you! Cite their work to give them a smile!
(1) Unknown, 2016. "Wordwatch: Volcano" Amazing Space. Accessed 14 September 2016. https://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/term-full.php?t=volcano&u=%2Fnews%2F (2) Leon, 2016. "Space Volcano Explorer." NASA SpacePlace. Accessed 14 September 2016. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/volcanoes/en/ (3) NASA/JPL, 2016. "Io". Image. NASA SpacePlace. Accessed 22 September 2016. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/volcanoes/io.en.jpg (4) Unknown, 2016. "Volcanoes Powerful Forces of Nature." Amazing Space. Accessed 14 September 2016. https://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/ (5) Unknown, 2016. "Active Volcanoes of Our Solar System". Geology.com. Accessed 15 September 2016. http://geology.com/articles/active-volcanoes-solar-system.shtml (6) NASA/JPL/SSI, 2016. "Enceladus." Image. NASA SpacePlace. Accessed 22 September 2016. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/volcanoes/enceladus-1.en.jpg (7) NASA/JPL/USGS, 2016. "Triton." Image. NASA SpacePlace. Accessed 22 September 2016. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/volcanoes/triton.en.jpg (8) Unknown, 2016. "Cryovolcano". Image. Geology.com. Accessed 22 September 2016. http://geology.com/articles/active-volcanoes/cryovolcano.jpg (9) Unknown, n.d. "Olympus Mons." NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Accessed 15 September 2016. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/olympus-mons.html (10) NASA/JPL, n.d. "MOC Image of Olympus Mons." Image. NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Accessed 22 September 2016. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/images/oly.jpg
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