Geologic Map of Jupiter's Moon Io Details an Otherworldly Volcanic Surface

An anonymous reader writes "More than 400 years after Galileo's discovery of Io, the innermost of Jupiter's largest moons, a team of scientists led by Arizona State University has produced the first complete global geologic map of the Jovian satellite. The map, published by the U. S. Geological Survey (PDF), depicts the characteristics and relative ages of some of the most geologically unique and active volcanoes and lava flows ever documented in the Solar System."

Comments

Otherworldly?

[rwade]

I would hope so...

Map obsolete in

[Forty Two Tenfold]

3... 2... 1...

sadly, the map is probably already out of date.

[wierd_w]

Io is possibly the most volcanically active body in the solar system. The intense tidal heating it gets from jupiter has it literally turning itself inside out like clockwork.

Any mapping of io is useless as a navigational aid. The best it can hope to bee used for is a high quality snapshot for geological analysis over time.

Re:sadly, the map is probably already out of date.

[volcanopele]

Which is exactly what this map is for: geologic analysis, not navigation. As far as it being out of date, the most recent spacecraft data we have is from the 2007 New Horizons flyby, and while it did show changes since the last of the Galileo data from 2001, it wasn't so much as to be unrecognizable, just as the first Galileo images of Io from 1996 didn't reveal a surface that was tremendously different from that seen in the 1979 Voyager data. Besides, while there been some major new flows seen since Galileo (this map does not incorporate New Horizons data), like at Masubi and North Lerna Regio, most of the changes at a global scale are from transient diffuse deposits (fallout from volcanic plumes), which are shown in a supplemental map to the geologic map. No new mountains or volcanic depressions have been seen. Unfortunately, it will be 15 years or more before we get new data to update this map... Likely more since the Jupiter Europa Orbiter is being scaled down, enough to eliminate science during any Io flybys.

Re:Worst case of mission creep

[MightyMartian]

Oh noos! The gubberment paid tax dollars for knowledge. I'm gonna go burn an effigy of our fake Nigerian Nigra president and jack off to pichurs of Ron Paul.