Ridges and Fractures on Europa

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Caption:

This high resolution image of the icy crust of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, reveals a surface criss-crossed by multiple sets of ridges and fractures. The area covered by this image is approximately 9 miles (15 kilometers) by 7 miles (12 kilometers), located near 15 North, 273 West. North is to the top, and the sun is illuminating the terrain from the right. The large ridge in the lower right corner of the image is approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) across, and is one of the youngest features in this image, as it cuts across many of the other features. Note that one ridge has been sheared by a right-lateral fault.

This image was taken by the Galileo spacecraft on February 20, 1997 from a distance of 1240 miles (2000 kilometers).

Background Info:

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo .

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