Methods for Mapping Europa’s Bands through Time

Presentation Year

2026

College or Department

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Short Description of your Research or Creative Project (700 characters or less)

Of the Galilean moons circling Jupiter, Europa is the second closest and the smallest. It has attracted some interest from the scientific community, due to its subsurface ocean which is one of the most likely places to find life in our solar system, and its geologically young surface of ~100Myr. We use stratigraphic relationships as a means to understand the evolution of Europa’s ice shell surface over time. Tectonic motion drives changes in surface morphologies, divergence of the plate creates dilational features like bands and ridges, and convergence may cause subduction-like processes. We use ArcGIS to map and categorize surface features on Europa. We are able to place features in time steps and assign them morphologies that help understand spatial and temporal changes in stress state.

Permission to Publish Work

Yes

Presentation File Upload

geology-hodgson-liam-203752-4x3.pdf (12.83 MB)

Primary Contact: First Name

Liam

Primary Contact: Last Name

Hodgson

Primary Contact: Email

lh1721@humboldt.edu

Primary Contact: I am a

Undergraduate Student

Primary Contact: Phone Number

7076830795

Indicate File Dimensions

4'x3'