A LANDSLIDE the size of Belgium is giving an insight into the workings of one
of Jupiter鈥檚 moons.
Io is home to active volcanoes resembling those on Earth. But one of them,
Euboea Montes, looks oblong from above and is smooth on one side and rough on
the other. Paul Schenk of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston suggests
layers of volcanic detritus compressed the crust below, making it rupture
upwards (Science, vol 279, p 1514). 鈥淎 block has been uplifted and
tilted,鈥� he says. 鈥淧art of the mountain slid down on one side.鈥�