The composition of Io
Io is unlike any other body in the Solar System making questions about its chemical composition especially interesting and challenging. This chapter examines the many different, but frustratingly indirect, constraints we have on the bulk composition of this restless moon. A detailed consideration of Io’s lavas is used to illustrate how decades of research have bounded, but not pinned down, the chemistry of Io. A self-consistent model for the core, mantle and crust is constructed based on a conventional chondritic composition but exotic alternatives cannot be ruled out. The study of Io’s composition should provide a fertile and exciting realm for future scientists.
Book chapter↗