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Europa's Icy Jigsaw Puzzle Solved

Evidence of plate tectonics is detected on Jupiter's moon.

By Eric Betz
Nov 26, 2014 6:00 AMNov 22, 2019 3:40 AM
Europa - NASA
Jupiter's moon Europa has fascinated astronomers with its intricate and colorful cracks. (Credit: Simon Kattenhor and Louise Prockter/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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Ever since NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft snapped the first photos of icy cracks crisscrossing Jupiter’s moon Europa in 1979, astronomers have speculated that tectonic forces could be at work. But the first solid evidence didn’t arrive until September, when a team of planetary geologists announced it might have solved the mystery by treating the moon’s crust like a jigsaw puzzle.

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