Europa Likely Holds 3 Billion Cubic Kilometres of Water, More Than Twice Earth's Oceans
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 15
Europa Likely Holds 3 Billion Cubic Kilometres of Water, More Than Twice Earth's Oceans
2 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Aug 15
Summary
Europa’s inferred subsurface ocean totals about 3 billion cubic kilometres, versus roughly 1.4 billion for Earth’s oceans, challenging the idea that Earth is the Solar System’s clear-cut “water world.”
NASA’s comparison rests on models of a global ocean about 60 to 150 kilometres deep beneath an ice shell, supported by Galileo magnetic data, surface geology and tidal-heating calculations rather than direct measurement.
Enceladus strengthens that rethink from another angle: the 500-kilometre-wide moon vents water vapour and ice grains from its buried ocean through south-polar fractures, giving spacecraft direct access to ocean material.
Cassini found water, salts, silica, molecular hydrogen, organics and later evidence of phosphates in those plume grains, pointing to potentially habitable chemistry but not to detected life.
The broader lesson is that “water world” depends on the metric—surface coverage favors Earth, liquid volume likely favors Europa, and ocean accessibility makes Enceladus exceptional.
While Europa hides oceans larger than Earth's, could the tiny, geyser-spewing Enceladus actually be our first key to discovering extraterrestrial life?
With Europa's deep ocean potentially blocked by rapid-freezing ice, could its massive water reserves remain forever out of humanity's reach?
As Europa Clipper nears its December 2026 Earth flyby, what hidden cosmic secrets will its advanced radar soon unveil beneath the ice?