Magmatism and volcanism on Io: Understanding the interiors of lava-worlds

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• Dan Spencer (University of Oxford)
• Monday 21 October 2019, 18:00-19:00
• Harker 1, Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Natalie Forrest.

Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system, and is part of a growing class of discovered ‘lava-worlds’. These lava-worlds are typically assumed to have interiors dominated by convection. For Io, however, this is inconsistent with the observed surface heat flux. We present a model of coupled magmatism and volcanism showing that removal of tidal heat from Io’s mantle occurs predominantly by magmatic segregation. The mode and spatial variability of volcanoes on lava-worlds exerts a strong control on crustal thickness and interior melt fractions, whilst reducing the drive for mantle convection and precluding plate tectonics.

This talk is part of the Sedgwick Club talks series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Harker 1, Department of Earth Sciences, Downing Street
• Department of Earth Sciences seminars
• Sedgwick Club talks

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