Tectonics on icy moons

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tectonics-on-icy-moons

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the parent planet distance (europa)?Approximately 671,000 km from Jupiter
2. What is the key cryotectonic features?Lineae, ridges, chaos terrains, fractures, and geyser activity
3. What makes the ice on moons like Europa and Enceladus move and crack?The moons’ ice shells are pushed and pulled by the gravity of their giant planet, and heat from inside makes the ice softer, so it can shift and create cracks.
4. Do icy moons have oceans inside them?Yes, the heat from tidal flexing keeps a layer of liquid water below the ice, so many icy moons have hidden oceans.

Cryotectonics: Geological processes involving the deformation and movement of icy crusts on celestial bodies.
Tidal Flexing: The stretching and squeezing of a moon's interior due to gravitational forces from its parent planet.
Cryovolcanism: Eruptions of water, ammonia, methane, or other volatiles from a moon's interior onto its surface.
Rheology: The study of how materials flow, particularly relevant to the behavior of ice under stress.