Abstract
Small, mid-sized and planet-sized moons orbit the four giant planets and are grouped into a specific class of planetary objects termed icy satellites because of the presence of water ice on their surfaces, spectroscopically detectable at near-infrared wavelengths, and because of their average densities of less than 2000 kg/m3. Ever since the Voyager mission beginning in 1979 these bodies have got their due attention by geoscientists. This chapter is focused on the geologic evolution of moons larger than 300 km in diameter. Like the surfaces of the terrestrial planets their surfaces are shaped by three major geologic processes: impact cratering, exogenic processes, and endogenic processes including tectonism and cryovolcanism.
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Wagner, R., Stephan, K., Schmedemann, N. (2018). Icy and Rocky–Icy Satellites. In: Rossi, A., van Gasselt, S. (eds) Planetary Geology. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65179-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65179-8_12
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