New Global Map of Io’s Volcanic Thermal Emission and Discovery of Hemispherical Dichotomies

Abstract

By combining multiple spacecraft and telescope data sets, the first fully global volcanic heat flow map of Io has been created, incorporating data down to spatial resolutions of ∼10 km pixel−1 in Io’s polar regions. Juno Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper data have filled coverage gaps in Io’s polar regions and other areas poorly imaged by Galileo instruments. A total of 343 thermal sources are identified in data up to mid-2023. While poor correlations are found between the longitudinal distribution of volcanic thermal emission and radially integrated end-member models of internal heating, the best correlations are found with shallow asthenospheric tidal heating and magma ocean models and negative correlations with the deep-mantle heating model. The presence of polar volcanoes supports, but does not necessarily confirm, the presence of a magma ocean on Io. We find that the number of active volcanoes per unit area in polar regions is no different from that at lower latitudes, but we find that Io’s polar volcanoes are smaller, in terms of thermal emission, than those at lower latitudes. Half as much energy is emitted from polar volcanoes as from those at lower latitudes, and the thermal emission from the north polar cap volcanoes is twice that of those in the south polar cap. Apparent dichotomies in terms of volcanic advection and resulting power output exist between sub- and anti-Jovian hemispheres, between polar regions and lower latitudes, and between the north and south polar regions, possibly due to internal asymmetries or variations in lithospheric thickness.