Spatiotemporal patterns of Io's bright transient eruptions, 1978-2022

Abstract

This study analyzes Io's thermally detected volcanic outbursts and mini-outbursts, generally called bright transient eruptions. We examine their evolving characteristics over the history of outburst observations between the Voyager flybys in 1978 and 2022. We catalog, compare, and interpret the data of these bright transient eruptions from several spacecraft flybys and numerous ground-based observation campaigns. To test the spatiotemporal behavior of these events, we compare them to a population of randomly spaced, stochastic events with an equal likelihood of occurrence anywhere on Io's surface. We find that the aggregate of all outbursts is consistent with a random distribution across Io, whereas mini-outbursts strongly prefer the trailing hemisphere (180 to 360 W). On shorter timescales, however, outbursts show a significant change in spatiotemporal behavior before and after the year 2012. Outbursts from 1995 to 2007 favor the northern leading hemisphere, while outbursts from 2013 to 2021 favor the southern trailing hemisphere. These temporally separated clusters of outbursts are remarkably similar to Io's two primary mountainous regions, indicating that outbursts may be related to mountain-forming activity. These trends show how bright transient eruptions are distinct from Io's other forms of volcanism. These could be essential constraints to assess models of Io's interior heat transport between tidal generation and volcanic distribution.