Sulfur Volcanism on Io, Beyond Pele

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5480 Volcanism (8450), 6218 Jovian Satellites

Scientific paper

The Pele plume is one of the largest and most dynamic of the plumes on Io. While elemental sulfur (S2) was long suspected to be a constituent of the Pele plume (McEwen and Soderblom 1980), spectral observations obtained in 1999 were the first to positively identify and quantify the density of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and S2 gas (Spencer et al. 2000) within the plume. The S2 /SO2 ratio derived from this observation provided a critical component necessary for the constraint of the magma chemistry and vent conditions of the Pele plume (Zolotov and Fegley 1998). In February 2003, March 2003 and January 2004 additional Pele plume transmission spectra were obtained during Jupiter transit with Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), using the 0.1 arcsec long slit and the G230LB grating. These spectra covered the 2100-3100 Å wavelength region and extended spatially along Io's limb both northward and westward of Pele. The S2 and SO2 absorption signatures evident in the newly acquired STIS data indicate that the gas signature at Pele was temporally variable, and that an S2 absorption signature was present at other latitude and longitudes, suggesting the presence of other S2 bearing plumes on Io. Contemporaneous with the spectral data UV and visible-wavelength images of the plume were obtained in reflected sunlight with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) prior to Jupiter transit. The dust scattering recorded in these data provide an additional qualitative measure of plume activity on Io indicating that the degree of dust scattering over Pele varied as a function of the date of observation, and that there were several other dust bearing plumes active just prior to Jupiter transit. We will present constraints on the composition and variability of the gas abundances of the Pele plume as well as other S2 bearing plumes recorded within the STIS data, as a function of time.

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