Abstract
The effects of the amount of sodium ions, their solar angles correlation, temperature and velocities, have been explained as consequences of the almost full penetration of the second mode of micrometeorite fluxes (M>10−8 g) across the Io atmosphere to its surface, whereas volcanism may satisfy only the amount of sodium.
Conclusions about the formation of fine grains on the Io surface, unflooded by lava, are presented. Due to its large specific surface (m2 g−1) the interaction of this topsoil and the Io atmosphere is no less important than the lava-atmosphere interaction.
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From September 1979.
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Coradini, M., Wekhof, A. Formation of the sodium clouds and the regolith on Io by micrometeoroid impacts. The Moon and the Planets 22, 177–183 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00898428
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00898428