Lateral Melt Variations induce Shift in Io’s Peak Tidal Heating

Lateral Melt Variations induce Shift in Io’s Peak Tidal Heating | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Lateral Melt Variations induce Shift in Io’s Peak Tidal Heating Allard Veenstra, Marc Rovira Navarro, Wouter van der Wal, Teresa Steinke, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5522583/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The innermost Galilean moon, Io, exhibits widespread tidally-driven volcanism. Monitoring of its volcanoes has revealed that they are not homogeneously distributed across its surface: volcanic activity is higher at low latitudes and peaks east of the sub- and anti-Jovian points. The observed longitudinal shift in volcanic activity has been presented as evidence of Io having a fluid magma ocean, as dissipation in a radially symmetric solid body cannot explain it. Here, we simulate the feedback between tidal heating and melt production in a solid body and demonstrate that a longitudinal shift in the heating pattern naturally arises from the feedback. Our results provide an alternative explanation for the observed volcanic heat flux without requiring a fluid magma ocean. The feedback between tidal dissipation and interior properties that results in interiors that deviate from radial symmetry is expected to drive the interior evolution of other tidally-active worlds, including icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus and exo-planets/moons with high eccentricity or obliquity. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Geodynamics Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Rings and moons Io Tidal Heating Volcanism Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files draftVeenstraetalfinalsupplementary.pdf Supplementary figures and information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 23 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5522583","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":392949112,"identity":"a39e7f5b-6939-435e-a914-c9e4f0534981","order_by":0,"name":"Allard Veenstra","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACNiT2BwYGxgZ2xgdApgURWoA044wEoBZmZsMGBgYJ4rQw8xCjhb+BLYGZp8ImT35+78PPtj8Oy/YzM7M/YNyBW4vEAbYDzDxn0ooNjrEbS+ckHDae2czM2MB4Bo/DDrA3MM5sO5y4gY2NAaQlccNh/oMNjG24tciDtfz7nzi/jY35twVQy/7DIFvwaDEAOozhY8OBxIZjbGzSDCBbmAloMTzMlnDgw7HkxA3H0tgse9LSjWcAbZmRiEeL3PE2wwcJNXaJ85uPMd/4YWMt29/ezPDhY5sNbu8zA0MAUzQBt4ZRMApGwSgYBUQAAKS3T8QjHChOAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0088-1421","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Allard","middleName":"","lastName":"Veenstra","suffix":""},{"id":392949113,"identity":"9aa8b29a-8e35-44e6-9d1b-bdc411eb0b59","order_by":1,"name":"Marc Rovira Navarro","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marc","middleName":"Rovira","lastName":"Navarro","suffix":""},{"id":392949114,"identity":"5baa6ebc-f6ce-48f3-9fef-fc51fbff6190","order_by":2,"name":"Wouter van der Wal","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8030-9080","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wouter","middleName":"van der","lastName":"Wal","suffix":""},{"id":392949115,"identity":"bdab3d00-01b5-4728-add1-9373beff70ea","order_by":3,"name":"Teresa Steinke","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Teresa","middleName":"","lastName":"Steinke","suffix":""},{"id":392949116,"identity":"3615d024-e0e8-48d8-a099-e5cc5696670c","order_by":4,"name":"Ashley Davies","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1747-8142","institution":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory - 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