Word: europan
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Though all such otherworldly erupting is dramatic, it amounts to little more than geological pyrotechnics. On Europa, however, tidal heating may have produced something truly remarkable. The formations Galileo spotted last week are definitely icebergs, though less jagged-looking than those found on Earth. Astronomers don't know why Europan ice and terrestrial ice would not fracture the same way, but they admit they have no experience with the kinds of cracks that are produced when an entire world is frozen over. More to the point, the bergs are small, rising just 300 to 600 ft. above the surrounding...
...matter how thick the ice is, the waters beneath it must still be liquid, thanks to tidal heating. This is good news for biology. Scientists don't pretend to know how warm a Europan ocean might be, but even waters that are just a degree above freezing would feel downright balmy to organisms that evolved...
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