Two Newly Discovered Forms of Salt Water Ice May Exist on Faraway Moons; What Could This Imply?

Researchers discovered two new types of frozen salt water that might help scientists answer a conundrum about the icy worlds in the Solar System.

According to Science Alert, the atoms in hydrated sodium chloride or salt water ice organized themselves in hitherto unknown formations with a significantly larger proportion of water molecules than salt when exposed to higher pressures and lower temperatures. It might be the cause of the red streaks crisscrossing the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa.

New Forms of Salt Found

Scientists believe that the red streaks on Europa are a frozen combination of water and salts, but its chemical signature is enigmatic since it corresponds to no known material on Earth.

The discovery of a new sort of solid crystal that develops when water and table salt meet in cold and high-pressure circumstances by a team led by the University of Washington may have solved the mystery. The new chemical developed in a lab on Earth might form at the surface and bottom of these worlds' deep seas.

Their study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discussed a new combination of two of Earth's most common substances: water and sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt.

The press release via EurkeAlert! reports that the team found that these planetary objects also likely contain molecules that are familiar on Earth, but in extremely strange settings. All of the fundamental mineralogical science that was done in the 1800s must be redone but at high pressure and low temperature.

At low temperatures, water and salts mix to produce a rigid salted frozen lattice called a hydrate, which is held together by hydrogen bonds. The only sodium chloride hydrate previously known has a simple structure with one salt molecule for every two water molecules.

Yet, the two novel hydrates discovered at moderate pressures and low temperatures are noticeably different. The first one has two sodium chlorides for every 17 water molecules, whereas the second contains one sodium chloride for every 13 water molecules.

Researchers hypothesize that it might have caused the signals from Jupiter's moons' surfaces to be more "watery" than predicted. They noted that it has the structure that planetary scientists have been looking for.

Lead author Baptiste Journaux said that finding new forms of salt water ice is significant not just for planetary science but also for physical chemistry and energy research, which employs hydrates for energy storage.

Do New Forms of Salt Mean Extraterrestrial Life Exist There?

Jupiter's ocean moons are most likely subjected to cold temperatures and strong pressure, CNN reported. The ice shell that forms Europa's surface is thought to be 10 to 15 miles (16 to 24 kilometers) thick, and the ocean it presumably rests on is 40 to 100 miles (64 to 161 kilometers) deep.

Knowing the chemistry present on ocean worlds such as Europa will help scientists better interpret the data obtained by future missions like JUICE and Europa Clipper.

Journaux noted that these places could be the best locations in the Solar System to discover extraterrestrial life. That is why there is a need to study exotic oceans and interiors to know how they formed, evolved, and retain liquid water in such are with low temperatures.

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