Oceans on Jupiter's Europa Resemble Oceans Found on Earth

According to a new study, there is water on Jupiter's moon Europa and the water isn't present in isolated bodies, but is in constant interaction with other water bodies and the surface. Researchers believe that oceans on Europa may have similar chemical composition as the oceans found here on Earth.

The study was conducted by Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and Kevin Hand from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena. The study provides evidence that Europa's oceans have a rich chemical composition.

"We now have evidence that Europa's ocean is not isolated-that the ocean and the surface talk to each other and exchange chemicals. That means that energy might be going into the ocean, which is important in terms of the possibilities for life there. It also means that if you'd like to know what's in the ocean, you can just go to the surface and scrape some off," said Brown.

Researchers used spectroscopy and found that Europa's surface has magnesium sulphate salt, which is likely formed due to the oxidation of a mineral that took place in deep areas of the ocean.

The study team first assessed the distribution of water and other chemicals on Europa's surface. They study results indicated that the moon's hemisphere has ice that's greatly not water-based. Then at the greatest concentration of this non-water ice, researchers found a dip in the spectrum that wasn't detected earlier. Researchers tested various chemicals to see if any other chemical matched the spectroscopy result. However, they found that only the signature of magnesium sulphate persisted, according to a statement from Caltech.

Researchers now hypothesize that chloride salts arise from the icy ocean and reach the surface where they react with sulphur released from volcanoes on the moon's surface. 

"Magnesium should not be on the surface of Europa unless it's coming from the ocean. So that means ocean water gets onto the surface, and stuff on the surface presumably gets into the ocean water," Brown said in a news release from Caltech.

Hand said that Europa has been a prime target for finding evidence of life beyond earth. "If we've learned anything about life on Earth, it's that where there's liquid water, there's generally life," he said. "And of course our ocean is a nice, salty ocean. Perhaps Europa's salty ocean is also a wonderful place for life."

The paper is published in the journal called Astronomical Journal.