Water Pressure on Europa

[SteveCNC]

As a Scuba diver and a space freak I was curious what the water pressure would be like on Europa . Here on earth it's roughly 1 atmosphere per 33 feet in depth but what about on Europa which has what roughly 1/8 or our gravity would it have larger depths per atmosphere like every 200 feet is one atmosphere or would it be closer to earths numbers ?

 

[kelvinzero]

It is proportional to the gravity isnt it? That makes it quite simple so long as the gravity is not so low that the depth for an earth pressure difference is so great that we can no longer regard the gravity as a constant.

anyway, if 33 feet is one atmosphere pressure under water on earth, and europa is 0.134g, that implies 250 feet on europa ( I think )

I once worked out that you would have a nice earth surface pressure under about 30 meters of water on mars. Also good protection from radiation. Frankly I think coming out onto dry land was a mistake. We should all get used to floating again. If we ever need to come back to earth, there is always the 75% of earth's surface where floating is the norm anyway.

 

[SpaceTas]

I did the calculation for a comment I posted a while back. Here it is:

"But SCUBA diving in Europa may be fun. With a surface gravity of 0.134 Earth or a factor 1/7.5 less you could dive 7.5 times deeper than on Earth for the same decompression risk. On Earth the standard recreational dive limit is 30 m (98 ft) this would become 225m (738 ft). With extra gear and decompression stops 60m (210 ft) is doable. In Europa that's 450 m (1476 ft). But the bottom is maybe 100 km .... Drat still need a sub. "

You would be able to add 1 atmosphere equivalent because there is no atmosphere. 1 ATM is equivalent to 30 m then scale it to 75 m. So you can add 75 to the above numbers.

In fact 100 km on Europa would be equivalent to about 13 km on Earth; bottom of Marianus trench.

Damn need a non existent sub. :!:

 

[CalliArcale]

There's no atmosphere, but there is a solid ice crust. That will add pressure, won't it? (I'm not an expert.) And then there's the question of ice depth -- how much ice is sitting on top of the water?

Can't wait for a Europa Orbiter to get there and start probing with radar to answer that question.

 

[StarRider1701]

There's no atmosphere, but there is a solid ice crust. That will add pressure, won't it? (I'm not an expert.) And then there's the question of ice depth -- how much ice is sitting on top of the water?

Can't wait for a Europa Orbiter to get there and start probing with radar to answer that question.

True Calli, all that ice will be a factor. I can't wait for a probe to find a way under the ice. I'd be willing to bet right now that we find some kind of life in that water. There are cracks in the ice...

 

[SpaceTas]

Ice floating in water is in equilibrium so doesn't add pressure ie the weight of the water is supported by the water displaced by the ice. Archimedes principle. Of course on Europa the ice might not be actually free floating and being pushed into the ocean by its weight.

Opps for decompression you'll have to remove 1 ATM worth of depth (lower max depth by 10m on Earth or 75m on Europa); like diving at higher attitude. Nitrogen build-up is due to the fractional change in pressure. On Earth going from 10 m to the surface is a change of a factor 2 from 2 ATM to 1 ATM (at surface).

The main point is that you would be able to dive a long way down, but not to the expected bottom.

 

[SteveCNC]

yeah I meant 1 atmosphere as 14.7 psi though with those kind of numbers the sweet spot 14.7 to 29.5 psi where there's no real problem for humans would be easily attainable if the Ice itself dosen't create too much pressure and maximum submersable depth would be pretty deep on that moon . If geo/thermal was used or a better Reactor can be built it would be possible to set up a base that could self sustain itself there though I'm not sure who would want to live there .

 

[EarthlingX]

I would. When can i go ?