Io has hundreds of visible volcanic vents, some of which blast jets of frozen vapor and 'volcanic snow' hundreds of miles high into its atmosphere.

This friction heats the moon and enables the intense volcanic activity. These tides produce a tremendous amount of internal friction. The gravitational attraction of Jupiter and its other moons exert such strong 'pulls' on Io that it deforms continuously from strong internal tides. However, Io is a very tiny moon that is enormously influenced by the gravity of the giant planet Jupiter. This surprises most people because Io's great distance from the sun and its icy surface make it seem like a very cold place. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. These are 1) Earth 2) Io, a moon of Jupiter 3) Triton, a moon of Neptune and, 4) Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.Įvidence for possible volcanic activity on Mars, Venus, Pluto, and Europa has been observed, but no direct eruption observations have been made. Geologically recent volcanic activity is not as widespread.īased upon observations from Earth and from space vehicles, only four bodies in the solar system have confirmed volcanic activity. Most of the volcanic features discovered within our solar system formed millions of years ago - when our solar system was younger and the planets and moons had much higher internal temperatures. The surface of Venus is covered with igneous rocks and hundreds of volcanic features.

Mars has Olympus Mons and Tharsis Rise, the largest volcanic features in our solar system. Our own moon has vast areas covered with ancient lava flows. Solar System VolcanoesĮvidence of past volcanic activity has been found on most planets in our solar system and on many of their moons. Eruptions recurrently resurface large parts of the moon. It has over 100 active volcanic centers, many of which have multiple active vents. Volcanoes on Io: Io, a moon of Jupiter, is the most volcanically active body in our solar system.

Does io moon have water