Fig. 1: Schematic view, looking down on Io’s north pole.
From: Lateral melt variations induce shift in Io’s peak tidal heating
Shown is the interior structure of an Io dominated by asthenospheric heating. The dotted ellipse is the equilibrium tide following Jupiter’s during Io’s elliptic orbit (e is the eccentricity of the orbit and a is the semi-major axis) and driving tidal heating and volcanism. The feedback between tidal heating and melt fraction (bottom) causes the tidal heating and melt pattern to evolve over time.
