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SUMMARY:Getting Under Europa’s Skin - Dr. Britney Schmidt  (Georgia Tech
 )
DTSTART:20190408T100000Z
DTEND:20190408T110000Z
UID:TALK122800@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Ryan Patmore
DESCRIPTION:Europa is one of the most enticing targets in the search for l
 ife beyond Earth. With an icy outer shell hiding a global ocean\, Europa e
 xists in a dynamic environment where immense tides from Jupiter potentiall
 y power an active deeper interior and intense radiation and impacts bathe 
 the top of the ice\, providing sources of energy that could sustain a bios
 phere. Europa’s icy plate tectonics\, and evidence for shallow water wit
 hin the ice\, implies that rapid ice shell recycling could create a convey
 or belt between the ice and ocean\, allowing ocean material to one day be 
 detected by spacecraft.\n\nBeneath ice shelves on Earth\, processes such a
 s accretion\, melt and circulation mediate the ice as an important element
  of the climate system. Here\, ice-ocean exchange may be similar to that o
 n Europa\, but is difficult to observe given the harsh environment and thi
 ckness of the ice. Thus exploring the cryosphere can form the foundation o
 f our understanding of other ocean worlds and a test bed for their explora
 tion.\n\nIn this presentation\, we will explore environments on Europa and
  their analogs here on Earth. NASA will launch the Europa Clipper Mission 
 in 2021\, but while we wait to get there\, we are looking to our own cosmi
 c backyard to help us to better understand this enigmatic moon. I will des
 cribe our work on the McMurdo and Ross Ice Shelves under our 2017-2020 fie
 ld program\, RISE UP\, using the under ice AUV/ROV Icefin built by our lab
 . We will also describe our work in collaboration with the University of O
 tago and Antarctica New Zealand on the Ross Ice Shelf Programme\, and with
  the NERC-NSF International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Using this new
  robotic capability\, we are working to gather unique new data relevant to
  climate and planetary science\, and develop techniques for together explo
 ring the Earth and one day Europa\, an ice-covered world not so unlike our
  own.
LOCATION:British Antarctic Survey\, Innovation Centre\, Seminar Room 2
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