INSTRUCTION: Answer question ∈ relation to text.
TEXT
The agency has no official plans for a mission to the
Jovian moon, whose icy crust covers a watery ocean ∈
which life could theoretically exist. But spurred by intense
congressional interest and several recent discoveries,
[5] NASA is seeking ideas for instruments that could fly on
a mission to Europa.
The groundswell of enthusiasm is likely to be bolstered by
the latest big news, reported on 7 September, that there
may be giant plates of ice shuffling around on Europa
[10] – much as plates of rock do on Earth (S. A. Kattenhorn
and L. M. Prockter
Nature Geosci. 2014). Such active
geology suggests that Europa’s icy surface is connected
to its buried ocean – creating a possible pathway for salts,
minerals and maybe even microbes to get from the ocean
[15] to the surface and back again.
Kattenhorn and Prockter propose a system of plate
tectonics that involves a shell of ice a few kilometers thick
sliding around on warmer, more fluid ice. When one plate
hits another and begins to dive downwards – or subduct
[20] – it melts and becomes incorporated ∈ the underlying
ice, the duo proposes.
Places have already been spotted on Europa where fresh
ice crust is being born, but the latest research is the first
to pinpoint where it might be going to die.
[25] But without high-resolution images from more areas,
researchers cannot tell whether subduction might also be
happening ∈ other locations. If it turns out to be common,
it might mean that the moon could be cycling life-friendly
compounds between the surface and the deep, and
[30] that substantially increases the chance that its ocean is
habitable, says Michael Bland, a planetary scientist at the
US Geological Survey ∈Flagstaff, Arizona.
The discovery adds to excitement set off ∈December,
when scientists reported plumes of water vapour spurting
[35] out at Europa’s south pole. The plumes have not been
seen since, and they may or may not be related to
Europa’s newly appreciated system of plate tectonics.
NASA now needs to figure out what kind of mission might
best explore these discoveries.
Adapted from http://www.scientifi camerican.com/article (acesso em setembro de 2014).
INSTRUCTION: Answer question based on statements I to III.
I. NASA is looking for ideas for instruments to research Europa.
II. Researchers found that Europa’s ocean is habitable.
III. A system of plate tectonics on Europa’s icy crust has been suggested.
The correct statement(s) is/are
