Creation Moment 10/25/2021 - Io

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God... Hebrews 11:3

"Jupiter’s moon, Io, is by far the most active volcanic body in our solar system. Io raises questions regarding what drives its intense volcanism. Scientists have endeavored to explain the heat radiated by Io and its interesting surface features. Theoretical models of Io have been developed that imply Io has been recycled by volcanism and tectonics over billions of years. However, it is possible to reinterpret the evidence from Io from a young age perspective.

The age of Io was addressed in my 2003 paper in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Creationism. That paper described tidal dissipation and the active volcanism in this moon of Jupiter. It was argued that an age of less than 10,000 years for Io was more plausible than an age of billions of years. Tidal dissipation is a well-known process generating heat in the interior of Io as it orbits Jupiter. 

The heat is generated from distortion of the shape of the body, more specifically from friction and movement of non-rigid material in the interior. Io radiates approximately 10¹⁴ watts of energy in infrared radiation. In the 2003 paper, I argued that tidal dissipation was not the only heat source in Io and that if Io is understood as only thousands of years old, some of the heat could still be primordial. This paper will update the subject of Io and its volcanism and argue that a young age is still plausible in the light of recent research.

In today’s models of Io, the moon must recycle itself. This means that Io must have been completely resurfaced many times in the history of the solar system, including a process of destroying and rebuilding the mountains. Keszthelyi et al. aptly summarize the magnitude of the problem. These comments were made not long after the end of the Galileo mission:

“If Io has been as volcanically active as it is today (erupting ~550 km³/yr. of lava (Blaney et al., 1995) for the past 4 billion years, it has produced a volume of lava equivalent to ~140 times the volume of Io. … The observed enstatite-rich, high-melting-temperature lavas should not exist on a highly differentiated Io. The only way such lavas could exist is to efficiently recycle the crust into the mantle.”

This figure of 140 times the volume of Io presents a problem for assuming Io is very old. In recycling a moon, likely the core would not participate since it is not feasible to ‘remix’ the core with mantle material. Galileo gravity measurements estimated that Io’s core accounted for about 14% of the mass of Io. Thus, leaving the core mass out of the recycling could increase the 140 figure above to 160 times the portion of Io participating in the recycling. Also, the quote above comments on high-melting-temperature lavas. One would expect that after many cycles of remixing into the mantle and volcanism driving material back to the surface, the higher-density minerals would stay in the lower mantle and the composition of the lavas reaching the surface should become more uniform over time. Yet the spectra and temperatures observed on the surface imply the lavas are of varied compositions.

This recycling of Io’s entire mass 140 times in over 4 billion years appears to be taken on faith by scientists today. The possibility of Io being only several thousand years old is not considered in the above comments. Yet, assuming a young age simplifies explaining Io. On evaluation, recycling the entire surface of Io would require a process to destroy and rebuild the mountains many times! 

A young-age view of Io eliminates the need to explain how a mass equivalent to most of the mass of Io could be recycled many times. In a young-age view, the volcanism could be essentially one way. There is some evidence suggesting large magma chambers under Io’s surface (such as Loki). Presumably, these do not remix into the mantle because they are not dense enough to sink. There is not a clear explanation of how the remixing into the mantle would take place. Only the assumption that the weight of the lavas would accomplish it........the implications of the models require a process that would recycle the volume of Io 140 times in over 4.5 billion years. All the mountains on Io would have to have been broken up and recycled into the mantle, then rebuilt repeatedly. There is evidence of some uplift of mountains along fault structures. The large volume of lavas likely creates stresses that cause some isostatic readjustment of the surface. But to infer from this that the entire moon has been recycled over and over is unreasonable. It is clear that the surface of Io is relatively young. Thus, the entire moon can be interpreted as young without contradicting known facts. Io is unique among moons in our solar system. It provides a useful laboratory for the study of tidal effects and orbit resonance. Io was apparently created to be a volcanic powerhouse which demonstrates God’s creativity." CMI