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Plate tectonics on Europa

Plate tectonics on Europa
Plate tectonics on Europa This conceptual illustration of the subsumption process (where one plate is forced under another) shows how a cold, brittle, outer portion of Europa's 20-30 kilometer-thick ice shell moved into the warmer shell interior and was ultimately subsumed. A low-relief subsumption band was created at the surface in the overriding plate, alongside which cryolavas may have erupted. NASA / Noah Kroese, I.NK