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Science In Action: Europa's Tectonic Plates

Some of the scars on the Jovian moon Europa could be the result of subducting plates

11/09/2014

Europa's Tectonic Plates

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Europa's Tectonic Plates

Tectonic plates made of ice are found on Jupiter’s moon Europa

Europa's Tectonic Plates; Highest CO2 levels; Wild Crop Database; Madagascan Toad

Scientists have discovered what appear to be tectonic plates on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. It is the first sign of this type of surface-shifting geological activity on a world other than Earth. Dr Louise Prockter, from Johns Hopkins University in the US, is one of the scientists behind this new discovery.

Highest CO2 Levels 
Greenhouse gases reached record levels in 2013. A surge in CO2 in the atmosphere meant concentrations of carbon dioxide grew at the fastest rate since 1984. Professor Joanna Haigh, a professor of atmospheric physics, and co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Environment at Imperial College London, talks to us about the WMO report.

Wild Crop Database 
Selective breeding of plants has been used by humans for thousands of years if not longer. It was practiced by early civilisations to create varieties of crops that have more of the factors that we value, for example larger fruit or berries. Now researchers are looking at crop wild relatives, which are closely related species that may have genes for other traits that might be useful, such as drought tolerance, or pest resistance. Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the UK have compiled the most comprehensive database of these crop wild relatives, and plotted where they are found. Dr Nigel Maxted, from the University of Birmingham in the UK, who set up the database, and Mr Mike Ambrose, from the department of crop genetics at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, joins us on the programme.

Madagascan Toad
The island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa, is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. It split from India about 88 million years ago, and the flora and fauna of the island has evolved independently. Ninety per cent of the wildlife isn’t found anywhere else, and hundreds of new species have been discovered there – but the remarkable diversity is under threat from a species that should not be there: the Asian toad.  Reporter Tim Healy came into the Science in Action studios on a recent trip from Madagascar to tell us more about it.

(Image: Some of the scars on the Jovian moon Europa could be the result of subducting plates ©Ted Stryk/Galileo Project/JPL/Nasa)

Presenter: Jack Stewart
Producer:  Ania Lichtarowicz

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