Active Volcanism on Io: Global Distribution and Variations in Activity
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Icarus 140, 243–264 (1999) Article ID icar.1999.6129, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on Active Volcanism on Io: Global Distribution and Variations in Activity Rosaly Lopes-Gautier Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 E-mail: [email protected] Alfred S. McEwen Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, P. O. Box 210092, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0092 William B. Smythe Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 P. E. Geissler Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, P. O. Box 210092, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0092 L. Kamp and A. G. Davies Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 J. R. Spencer Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 L. Keszthelyi Department of Planetary Sciences, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, P. O. Box 210092, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0092 R. Carlson Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 F. E. Leader and R. Mehlman Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California—Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095 L. Soderblom Branch of Astrogeologic Studies, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 and The Galileo NIMS and SSI Teams Received June 23, 1998; revised February 10, 1999 in 1979. A total of 61 active volcanic centers have been identified Io’s volcanic activity has been monitored by instruments aboard from Voyager, groundbased, and Galileo observations. Of these, 41 the Galileo spacecraft since June 28, 1996. We present results from are hot spots detected by NIMS and/or SSI. Another 25 locations observations by the near-infrared mapping spectrometer (NIMS) were identified as possible active volcanic centers, mostly on the for the first 10 orbits of Galileo, correlate them with results from basis of observed surface changes. Hot spots are correlated with the Solid State Imaging System (SSI) and from groundbased ob- surface colors, particularly dark and red deposits, and generally servations, and compare them to what was known about Io’s vol- anti-correlated with white, SO2-rich areas. Surface features corre- canic activity from observations made during the two Voyager flybys sponding to the hot spots, mostly calderas or flows, were identified 243 0019-1035/99 $30.00 Copyright c 1999 by Academic Press All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 244 LOPES-GAUTIER ET AL. from Galileo and Voyager images. Hot spot temperatures obtained The Solid State Imaging System (SSI) aboard Galileo is in- from both NIMS and SSI are consistent with silicate volcanism, vestigating Io’s geologic features, plume activity, surface colors, which appears to be widespread on Io. Two types of hot spot ac- and high-temperature hot spot activity (McEwen et al. 1997, tivity are present: persistent-type activity, lasting from months to 1998a,b; Carr et al. 1998; Simonelli et al. 1997; Geissler et al. years, and sporadic events, which may represent either short-lived 1999). SSI’s spatial resolution is 50 times that of NIMS, enabling activity or low-level activity that occasionally flares up. Sporadic it to detect smaller hot spots than NIMS can, as long as the tem- events are not often detected, but may make an important contri- peratures of these hot spots are sufficiently high to be detectable bution to Io’s heat flow and resurfacing. The distribution of active volcanic centers on the surface does not show any clear correlation using the camera. SSI can detect hot spots having a minimum with latitude, longitude, Voyager-derived global topography,or heat temperature of 700 K if the pixel is filled (McEwen et al. 1997). flow patterns predicted by the asthenosphere and deep mantle tidal The NIMS wavelength range, from 0.7 to 5.2 m, enables it to dissipation models. However,persistent hot spots and active plumes detect cooler hot spots than SSI, down to 180 K if the hot spot are concentrated toward lower latitudes, and this distribution fa- fills a NIMS pixel (Smythe et al. 1995). All of the NIMS pixels vors the asthenosphere rather than the deep mantle tidal dissipation in the observations obtained so far are greater than 14,884 km2, model. c 1999 Academic Press significantly larger than hot spot areas, which are typically only Key Words: Io; volcanism; infrared observations. a few square kilometers (Lopes-Gautier et al. 1997). The coolest temperatures obtained from a single blackbody fit to NIMS data have been about 300 K. 1. INTRODUCTION The combination of NIMS and SSI observations is of great value for the study of Io’s volcanic activity. The two instru- One of the major objectives of the Galileo mission is to study ments provide complementary data for investigating the rela- Io’s volcanic activity and how it varies with time. Active vol- tionship between hot spot activity, plume activity, and surface canism on Io was discovered from images and infrared measure- geology. We present here the results of the NIMS search for ments taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft during its flyby of the new and recurrent hot spots on Io from observations taken dur- Jupiter system in 1979 (e.g., Smith et al. 1979). Four months ing Galileo’s first 10 orbits. We combine the NIMS results with later, the Voyager 2 flyby revealed that some major changes had those from the SSI observations (McEwen et al. 1997, 1998a), taken place on Io, including the apparent shutoff of the Pele those from groundbased observations obtained during and prior plume and the filling of the fallout ring around Pele. Analy- to the Galileo mission (summarized in Spencer et al. 1997a), sis of Voyager 1 IRIS data (Pearl and Sinton 1982, McEwen and those obtained from Voyager data (Pearl and Sinton 1982, et al. 1992a,b) showed at least 22 hot spots over about a third of McEwen et al. 1992a,b). The combination of these data sets pro- the surface. The cameras (ISS) aboard the two Voyager space- vides our most complete view to date of the global distribution craft detected a total of nine active plumes (Strom et al. 1981, and temporal variability of Io’s hot spot activity. McEwen et al. 1989). All of the plume sites that were also ob- served by IRIS showed the presence of hot spots. 2. IO OBSERVATIONS BY GALILEO NIMS AND SSI Since Voyager, Io’s activity has been monitored by obser- vations from groundbased telescopes (e.g., Veeder et al. 1994, The NIMS instrument has been described previously by Goguen et al. 1988, Spencer et al. 1997a). Hot spot detections Carlson et al. (1992) and Smythe et al. (1995). NIMS includes a from groundbased observations were summarized by Spencer spectrometer with a scanning grating and spans the wavelength and Schneider (1996) and Spencer et al. (1997a). range 0.7 to 5.2 m, therefore measuring both reflected sunlight The Galileo mission has provided the unprecedented oppor- and thermal emission. NIMS forms spectra with 17 detectors tunity to monitor the activity of Io’s volcanoes from Jupiter in combination with a moving grating. The 17 wavelengths ob- orbit. During its two-year primary mission, from December tained for each grating position are acquired simultaneously, 1995 to December 1997, Galileo has encountered Ganymede, thus providing a “snapshot” spectrum of the target. Spectra ob- Callisto, and Europa. The spacecraft has come no closer to Io tained for different grating positions are not located precisely than 240,000 km during each orbit, except at Jupiter Orbit In- on the same spot on the planet, because of motion of the field of sertion (JOI) when no remote sensing observations were taken. view relative to the surface during the time between grating steps Closer ranges are planned during the Galileo Europa Mission (0.33 s). This motion has implications for the analysis of NIMS (GEM), including two close flybys of Io at the end of the mis- data, such as the variance of hot spot temperatures measured sion in 1999. The near-infrared mapping spectrometer (NIMS) (Lopes-Gautier et al. 1997). has observed Io at least twice during each of Galileo’s orbits, NIMS has observed Io at least twice per orbit during Galileo’s starting on June 28, 1996. The main objectives of the NIMS orbits G1 through C10, corresponding to the period from June 28, observations of Io are (i) to investigate the distribution and tem- 1996 to September 20, 1997. Most observations were taken poral variability of hot spots on Io’s surface (Lopes-Gautier within one to three days of closest approach in each orbit, cov- et al. 1997a) and (ii) to determine Io’s surface composition and ering all latitudes and either the whole disk or part of the disk. the distribution of SO2 on the surface (Carlson et al. 1997). The NIMS global coverage of Io in these orbits had spatial ACTIVE VOLCANISM ON IO 245 resolutions typically in the range 200–500 km/pixel. The high- less than that from neighboring pixels which were identified as est spatial resolution was obtained on the anti-jovian hemisphere hot spots. This may represent adjacent hot spots that cannot be (122 km/pixel), while the poorest spatial resolution was on the fully resolved at the available spatial resolution, or energy that Jupiter–facing hemisphere (for the swath 350W-0-40W the res- is distributed between pixels because of the instrument’s point- olution was, at best, 516 km/pixel). Often, NIMS has taken pairs spread function (Carlson et al. 1992). Because major hot spots of observations close together in time, one covering Io’s dayside are typically separated by less than 500 km, the hot spot detection and the other Io’s nightside, to permit use of a more sensitive methods used here are much less effective at 500 km/pixel than gain state for the nightside.