Friday, February 06, 2026 at 12:15 pm

JILA Foothills Room

Caroline Haslebacher , SWRI

"Lineament Azimuths and Europa's Tidal Stress Field"

Abstract:

On the icy surface of the Galilean moon Europa, lineaments appear on a manifold of scales and directions. The general understanding is that lineaments develop out of fractures in Europa's ice shell, enhancing habitability by providing a mechanism for upwelling of fresh subsurface material. The study of lineament azimuths can be used to unravel Europa's current and past stress field conditions. With the goal of correlating observations to stress models, I apply a novel statistical model to detect preferred lineament directions. However, the sun direction is significantly biasing the mapping process. I present a solution to correct for this bias with the help of digital terrain models. Finally, I demonstrate how Europa Clipper's observations will advance our understanding of lineament formation and evolution.

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