Byrne-led study: Europa's seafloor too quiet for vents; Green-led study proposes sinking ice delivers nutrients
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Two studies published in January offer contrasting outlooks on whether Europa's ocean could support life. One, led by Paul Byrne of Washington University in St. Louis, finds the moon's seafloor is likely too quiet to sustain hydrothermal vents like those on Earth. A separate paper by Austin Green and Catherine Cooper proposes that sinking pockets of salty ice could deliver nutrients from the surface to the ocean below.
The Seafloor Model
Paul Byrne and colleagues at Washington University used orbital mechanics and internal structure models to simulate tidal heating on Europa. Their study, published in Nature Communications, finds that the gravitational forces from Jupiter are insufficient to generate the intense hydrothermal activity seen on Io or Earth. The resulting seafloor environment is likely too quiet to sustain the hydrogen sulphide-based vent ecosystems that support deep-sea life on Earth. Byrne noted that any activity would be far more subdued, possibly too weak to matter for biology.
Sinking Ice as Nutrient Supply
A separate study by Austin Green (Virginia Tech) and Catherine Cooper (Washington State University) in The Planetary Science Journal explores an alternative pathway for nutrient delivery. Jupiter's radiation alters the chemistry of Europa's surface ice, concentrating salts and other compounds near the surface. The researchers modelled a process akin to crustal delamination, where dense, salty ice breaks away and sinks through the ice shell, potentially carrying nutrients to the ocean below. This mechanism could supply the chemical building blocks needed for life without requiring an active seafloor.
What's Next
NASA's Europa Clipper mission, scheduled to arrive in 2030, may provide observational data to test both hypotheses. It remains unclear whether either mechanism can sustain a biosphere without a continuous energy source.
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Byrne-led study: Europa's seafloor too quiet for vents; Green-led study proposes sinking ice delivers nutrients
