Clay-Like Minerals Found on Icy Crust of Europa

Clay-Like Minerals Found on Icy Crust of Europa
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-362

A new analysis of data from NASA's Galileo mission has revealed
clay-type minerals at the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa that
appear to have been delivered by a spectacular collision with an
asteroid or comet. This is the first time such minerals have been
detected on Europa's surface. The types of space rocks that deliver
such minerals typically also often carry organic materials.

"Organic materials, which are important building blocks for life, are
often found in comets and primitive asteroids," said Jim Shirley, a
research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif. Shirley is giving a talk on this topic at the American
Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on Friday, Dec. 13.
"Finding the rocky residues of this comet crash on Europa's surface
may open up a new chapter in the story of the search for life on
Europa," he said. -