Stanford Advisors


All Publications


  • Feasibility of Passive Sounding of Uranian Moons Using Uranian Kilometric Radiation EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE Romero-Wolf, A., Steinbrugge, G., Castillo-Rogez, J., Cochrane, C. J., Nordheim, T. A., Mitchell, K. L., Wolfenbarger, N. S., Schroeder, D. M., Peters, S. 2024; 11 (2)
  • Exploring the Interior of Europa with the Europa Clipper. Space science reviews Roberts, J. H., McKinnon, W. B., Elder, C. M., Tobie, G., Biersteker, J. B., Young, D., Park, R. S., Steinbrügge, G., Nimmo, F., Howell, S. M., Castillo-Rogez, J. C., Cable, M. L., Abrahams, J. N., Bland, M. T., Chivers, C., Cochrane, C. J., Dombard, A. J., Ernst, C., Genova, A., Gerekos, C., Glein, C., Harris, C. D., Hay, H. C., Hayne, P. O., Hedman, M., Hussmann, H., Jia, X., Khurana, K., Kiefer, W. S., Kirk, R., Kivelson, M., Lawrence, J., Leonard, E. J., Lunine, J. I., Mazarico, E., McCord, T. B., McEwen, A., Paty, C., Quick, L. C., Raymond, C. A., Retherford, K. D., Roth, L., Rymer, A., Saur, J., Scanlan, K., Schroeder, D. M., Senske, D. A., Shao, W., Soderlund, K., Spiers, E., Styczinski, M. J., Tortora, P., Vance, S. D., Villarreal, M. N., Weiss, B. P., Westlake, J. H., Withers, P., Wolfenbarger, N., Buratti, B., Korth, H., Pappalardo, R. T. 2023; 219 (6): 46

    Abstract

    The Galileo mission to Jupiter revealed that Europa is an ocean world. The Galileo magnetometer experiment in particular provided strong evidence for a salty subsurface ocean beneath the ice shell, likely in contact with the rocky core. Within the ice shell and ocean, a number of tectonic and geodynamic processes may operate today or have operated at some point in the past, including solid ice convection, diapirism, subsumption, and interstitial lake formation. The science objectives of the Europa Clipper mission include the characterization of Europa's interior; confirmation of the presence of a subsurface ocean; identification of constraints on the depth to this ocean, and on its salinity and thickness; and determination of processes of material exchange between the surface, ice shell, and ocean. Three broad categories of investigation are planned to interrogate different aspects of the subsurface structure and properties of the ice shell and ocean: magnetic induction, subsurface radar sounding, and tidal deformation. These investigations are supplemented by several auxiliary measurements. Alone, each of these investigations will reveal unique information. Together, the synergy between these investigations will expose the secrets of the Europan interior in unprecedented detail, an essential step in evaluating the habitability of this ocean world.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s11214-023-00990-y

    View details for PubMedID 37636325

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10457249

  • Radar Attenuation in Enceladus' Ice Shell: Obstacles and Opportunities for Constraining Shell Thickness, Chemistry, and Thermal Structure JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS Soucek, O., Behounkova, M., Schroeder, D. M., Wolfenbarger, N. S., Kalousova, K., Steinbrugge, G., Soderlund, K. M. 2023; 128 (2)
  • Brine Volume Fraction as a Habitability Metric for Europa's Ice Shell GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Wolfenbarger, N. S., Fox-Powell, M. G., Buffo, J. J., Soderlund, K. M., Blankenship, D. D. 2022; 49 (22)
  • Compositional Controls on the Distribution of Brine in Europa's Ice Shell JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH Wolfenbarger, N. S., Fox-Powell, M. G., Buffo, J. J., Soderlund, K. M., Blankenship, D. D. 2022; 127 (9)