The idea that Io’s crust is ultramafic (magnesium-rich) seems inconsistent with the well-understood process of magmatic differentiation. In that case, lavas on Io should be depleted in magnesium, but this isn’t the case. But magnesium is a heavy element, and magnesium should have settled deep into Io’s interior after billions of years. Geologists would say they are ultramafic. 3,4 Until additional data or calculations shed more light on the issue, I would caution against dogmatism on this point.Įven so, Io still presents problems for evolutionists because its erupting lavas are rich in magnesium. This idea only works, though, if the presumed subsurface oceans have just the right thicknesses. So, present-day tidal flexing might be capable of explaining Io’s heat output after all. ![]() If so, previous tidal heating estimates for these moons may need to be significantly revised. ![]() A recent paper, however, claims that this inter-moon tidal heating can be significant if the moons have subsurface liquid or magma oceans. It was assumed that the tugs the moons exerted on each other were not as important. 1īut these previous calculations focused mainly on gravitational tugs that Jupiter exerted on Io and the other Galilean moons. This was an argument for youth because the only remaining option to explain Io’s warmth was leftover heat from its formation, which is only possible if Io is young. 2įor a long time, creationists made much of the fact that simple models of tidal flexing could only produce a small fraction of Io’s observed heat output. 1 Radioactivity can only make a small contribution to Io’s heat output, so uniformitarian scientists attribute most of Io’s present-day heat to tidal flexing. Io’s volcanism is so intense that at today’s rates, it would have turned itself “inside out” more than 100 times in 4.6 billion years. The colors of its surface are due to the different temperatures of various sulfur-containing compounds. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. Thus, the warmth of these moons is a potential problem for “deep time.” But even if, for the sake of argument, one grants them these special conditions, problems still remain for the old-universe view. Tidal heating or flexing: Jupiter and its moons exert gravitational tugs on one another, and these tugs flex or stretch the moons’ interiors, heating them.Ĭonventional scientists think radioactivity and tidal heating can explain the warmth of these moons, but their explanations often require special conditions that may or may not hold. Heat produced by radioactive decay: Because radioactive elements are quite heavy, this is not always an option for small, low-mass moons. ![]() But it is an option for biblical creationists, as these moons could still be cooling off 6,000 years after the Lord Jesus created them. ![]() For scientists who hold to evolution and millions of years, however, this is not an option since small bodies like Jupiter’s moons should have lost this energy to space eons ago. Leftover warmth: The moons could still be losing the energy they had at the time they formed. Generally, there are three ways to warm such bodies. Most, if not all, of the Galilean moons show evidence of interiors that are at least fairly warm. In order of increasing distance from Jupiter, they are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto (Figure 1). He recognized them as satellites, and they became known as the Galilean moons. In 1610, Galileo Galilei aimed his telescope at Jupiter and discovered the four largest of the planet’s 95 known moons.
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