This is the Ice phase diagram.

The Ice Phase Diagram

The diagram to the left can be used to predict how a satellite, such as a moon, might evolve as the layers inside freeze and warm. The slanted blue line shows the changes in the temperature inside the satellite. Over the life of the satellite, the temperature inside will drop or increase. When that happens, the blue line in the diagram changes its slant.

The blue line is superimposed upon the Water Ice Phase Diagram. This diagram is the result of predictions of when certain forms of ice will occur.

As the temperature falls, the blue line will also fall. When the blue line crosses a boundary into a new form of ice, the ices will restructure themselves into the new form, and the moon itself will shrink or grow. If it shrinks, the moon may perhaps form grooves, as on Ganymede. If it grows, the moon may crack, as on Europa.


You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Evolution of the Interior of Icy Moons

Ice can change itself into many different forms. The forms are called phases. Phases can be as different as diamond and graphite. As can be seen in these pictures, diamond has a very different size and...more

Amalthea

Amalthea was discovered by E Barnard in 1872. Of the 17 moons it is the 3rd closest to Jupiter, with a standoff distance of 181,300 km. Amalthea is about the size of a county or small state, and is just...more

Callisto

Callisto was first discovered by Galileo in 1610, making it one of the Galilean Satellites. Of the 60 moons it is the 8th closest to Jupiter, with a standoff distance of 1,070,000 km. It is the 2nd largest...more

Evolution of Callisto

The insides of most of the moons and planets separated while they were forming out of the primitive solar nebula. Measurements by the Galileo spacecraft have been shown that Callisto is the same inside...more

Very Large Impact Crater

Many examples of the differing types of surface are shown in this image. In the foreground is a huge impact crater, which extends for almost an entire hemisphere on the surface. This crater may be compared...more

Surface of Callisto

The surface of Callisto is deeply pockmarked with craters. It looks to be perhaps the most severely cratered body in the solar system. There are also very large craters to be found there. The severity...more

Europa

Europa was first discovered by Galileo in 1610, making it one of the Galilean Satellites. It is Jupiter's 4th largest moon, 670,900 km from Jupiter. With a diameter that is about half the distance across...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA