On the Divergent Evolution of Io and Europa as Primordial Ocean Worlds

TL;DR

This study models the early thermal evolution of Io and Europa to understand their divergent water content, suggesting Europa retained most volatiles while Io remained largely anhydrous due to different formation and escape processes.

Contribution

It provides a coupled interior and atmospheric escape model to explain the divergent water retention of Io and Europa based on their formation and early evolution.

Findings

Europa retained most of its volatiles during early evolution.

Io likely remained largely anhydrous due to limited water loss.

Differences in initial accretion and dehydration timing explain current volatile disparities.

Abstract

The Galilean moons exhibit a decrease in bulk density with distance from Jupiter, which may reflect differences in evolutionary paths and water loss. Early in its history, Jupiter was more luminous and may have driven substantial atmospheric escape on Io and Europa. We investigate whether Io could have lost its water inventory while Europa retained its volatiles, assuming both moons initially accreted hydrous silicates. The formation and early thermal evolution of the protosatellites are modeled using an interior evolution model coupled with an atmospheric escape framework. Dehydration timescales and volatile losses for Io and Europa are computed during their early evolution, accounting for accretional heating from both satellitesimal and pebble accretion, as well as irradiation from Jupiter's primordial luminosity. Europa likely retained most of its volatiles under nearly all plausible formation and evolution scenarios, as large-scale dehydration would have taken place only after the first 10 Myr of its evolution. In contrast, Io was unlikely to lose a substantial amount of water through atmospheric escape and therefore probably accreted predominantly anhydrous silicates. If Europa initially accreted hydrous minerals, the present-day volatile contrast between Io and Europa could be explained by their relative locations with respect to the phyllosilicate dehydration line in the Jovian subnebula. Distinct evolutionary pathways or atmospheric escape processes alone appear insufficient to reproduce the observed differences.