Publication Date:
1998-07-04
Description:
Infrared wavelength observations of Io by the Galileo spacecraft show that at least 12 different vents are erupting lavas that are probably hotter than the highest temperature basaltic eruptions on Earth today. In at least one case, the eruption near Pillan Patera, two independent instruments on Galileo show that the lava temperature must have exceeded 1700 kelvin and may have reached 2000 kelvin. The most likely explanation is that these lavas are ultramafic (magnesium-rich) silicates, and this idea is supported by the tentative identification of magnesium-rich orthopyroxene in lava flows associated with these high-temperature hot spots.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉McEwen, A S -- Keszthelyi, L -- Spencer, J R -- Schubert, G -- Matson, D L -- Lopes-Gautier, R -- Klaasen, K P -- Johnson, T V -- Head, J W -- Geissler, P -- Fagents, S -- Davies, A G -- Carr, M H -- Breneman, H H -- Belton, M J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1998 Jul 3;281(5373):87-90.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85711, USA. mcewen@lpl.arizona.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9651251" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
*Extraterrestrial Environment
;
Hot Temperature
;
*Jupiter
;
Minerals
;
*Silicates
;
Spectrophotometry, Infrared
;
Volcanic Eruptions
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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