Tawhaki Patera

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Highest resolution images of Tawhaki Patera, taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Color image on the left acquired in July 1999. The gray scale image on the right taken in November 1999. Tawhaki Patera.jpg
Highest resolution images of Tawhaki Patera, taken by the Galileo spacecraft. Color image on the left acquired in July 1999. The gray scale image on the right taken in November 1999.

Tawhaki Patera is an active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io. It is located on Io's leading hemisphere at 3°19′N76°11′W / 3.32°N 76.18°W / 3.32; -76.18 [1] within the equatorial plains of western Media Regio. Tawhaki is an Ionian patera, a type of volcanic crater similar to a caldera, 49.8 kilometers (30.9 mi) wide and 550 meters (1,800 ft) deep. [1] [2]

Tawhaki Patera was first seen as a dark spot in low-resolution Voyager 1 in March 1979. However, volcanic activity was not observed at Tawhaki until September 1997 when a bright thermal hotspot was observed at near-infrared wavelengths while Io was in the shadow of Jupiter by the camera on the Galileo spacecraft. [3] Tawhaki would also be observed as a hotspot while Io was in eclipse in November 1997 during Galileo's eleventh orbit. The high temperature period of the eruption at Tawhaki ceased by May 1998. [4] It is uncertain whether this delay is due to real changes in activity at Tawhaki or the poor resolution of the Voyager data and Galileo data from the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS). [3]

Tawhaki Patera is one of several volcanoes suspected of being responsible for the August 2, 1999 9908A outburst eruption, one of the most energetic observed on Io. [5] However, the low-resolution of the ground-based observation precludes a definitive identification of the source volcano of the eruption beyond that it was located in northwestern Media Regio on Io's leading hemisphere. [6] The NIMS instrument did detect a thermal hotspot between one and five micrometres at Tawhaki during Galileo's 21st orbit in July 1999, a month prior to the eruption. [5] The southern half of Tawhaki Patera was observed by Galileo at 260 meters per pixel during an encounter with Io on November 26, 1999, providing the highest resolution image of this volcano. [4] This along with a color observation taken in July 1999, showed that the floor of Tawhaki contained some of the darkest material in the area, suggesting the cooled lava at Tawhaki is very young, consistent with the activity seen during the Galileo mission. [2] A lava channel, later named Tawhaki Vallis was also found to the southeast. The channel maybe related to earlier activity at Tawhaki Patera, but the images of the region cut off the northern half of the volcano and channel, preventing a relationship between the two volcanic features to be established. [7] In August 2001, NIMS once again observed a low level of activity at Tawhaki Patera. [8]

The volcano was formally named Tawhaki Patera by the International Astronomical Union in 2000 after the Māori lightning god, Tāwhaki. [1] The Galileo imaging team suggested the name Hine-i-tapeka Patera, but Tawhaki Patera was chosen instead. [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomagata Patera</span> Patera on Io

Thomagata Patera is a volcano on Jupiter's moon Io. It is located on Io's anti-Jupiter hemisphere at 25.67°N 165.94°W, to the east of the nearby active volcanoes Volund and Zamama. Thomagata is a kidney-shaped Ionian patera, a type of volcanic crater similar to a caldera, 56 kilometers (35 mi) long, 26 km (16 mi) wide, and 1.2–1.6 km (0.7–1.0 mi) deep. The volcano is currently inactive as a thermal hotspot has never been observed at Thomagata and the bright floor of the patera suggests that it is cold enough for sulfur dioxide and sulfur to condense. Thomagata is located near the center of a low, 100 km (62 mi) wide mesa. The edge of the mesa rises 200 meters (660 ft) above the surrounding plains, however the slope up to the edge of Thomagata Patera is unknown. If the floor of the patera is at the same level as the surrounding plains, the western slope of the mesa would have a grade of 2°. The morphology of this mesa and the pattern of faded lava flows along its slopes radiating away from Thomagata suggest that Thomagata Patera and the mesa that surrounds it may be a shield volcano, also called a tholus on Io. The irregular margin of the mesa and the lack of debris at the base of its basal scarp suggest that it was modified by sulfur dioxide sapping.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanehekili Fluctus</span> Lava flow on Io

Kanehekili Fluctus is a lava flow field on Jupiter's moon, Io. This fluctus is located in the sub-Jovian hemisphere at 17.68°S 33.56°W as shown in the picture on the right. Also in the picture is the Kanehekili volcanic center located at 18.21°S 33.6°W. This lava field covers roughly 34,500 square kilometres (13,300 sq mi). The hotspot was detected by the Galileo Solid State Imaging experiment (SSI) on orbits by Galileo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zamama (volcano)</span> Active volcanic center on Io

Zamama is an active volcanic center on Jupiter's moon Io. This volcanic center erupted after the Voyager 1 flyby in 1979, making it one of the few planetary volcanoes known to have activated during this generation's lifetime. Further analysis and study by the Galileo spacecraft helped with the overall study of Io's volcanism. Galileo located it on Io at 21°N173°W. Zamama has a fissure-fed-type flow that is 150 km (93 mi) long with temperatures of 1,100 K, and the volcanic center site has explosive and effusive eruption characteristics. The flow appears to be emanating from the Promethean-type volcano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaac-Camaxtli region</span>

The Chaac-Camaxtli region is a volcanic region on Jupiter's moon Io, located from approximately 5 to 20°N and 130 to 160°W in its anti-Jovian hemisphere. It consists mainly of the hummocky bright plains that occupy the surface. This area is defined on the west by Chaac Patera, and on the east by Camaxtli Patera. At least 10 distinct volcanic centers are located in the region, making it a volcanically active region on Io's surface. Most of the volcanism here is expressed as paterae, which range in size from circular to elliptical. A patera is defined by the International Astronomical Union as "irregular or complex craters with scalloped edges." The largest volcanic structure here is the Chaac Patera. The paterae found in the Chaac-Camaxtli region are Chaac, Balder Patera, Grannos, Ababinili, Ruaumoko, Steropes, Camaxtli, Tien Mu, Utu, and Mentu.

References

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