title: Salts on Europa's surface detected by Galileo's near infrared mapping spectrometer. The NIMS Team.
abstract: Reflectance spectra in the 1- to 2.5-micrometer wavelength region of the surface of Europa obtained by Galileo's Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer exhibit distorted water absorption bands that indicate the presence of hydrated minerals. The laboratory spectra of hydrated salt minerals such as magnesium sulfates and sodium carbonates and mixtures of these minerals provide a close match to the Europa spectra. The distorted bands are only observed in the optically darker areas of Europa, including the lineaments, and may represent evaporite deposits formed by water, rich in dissolved salts, reaching the surface from a water-rich layer underlying an ice crust.
authors.affiliation: Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: McCord
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Fanale
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Matson
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Smythe
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Crowley
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ocampo
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hibbitts
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Granahan
mesh_terms: D002254:Carbonates; D019419:Evolution, Planetary; D007053:Ice; D018538:Jupiter; D008278:Magnesium Sulfate; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D012492:Salts; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D007053:Ice; D012492:Salts; D014867:Water; C005686:sodium carbonate; D008278:Magnesium Sulfate