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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
One important aspect of satellite-magnetosphere interactions concerns surface modification effects resulting from ion sputtering and/or electrostatic transport. For example, the Galileo measurements showed that the net mass loss rate at Europa could be as much as 40 meters of material per 100 million years. Magnetospheric ion-sputtering effects therefore have the interesting potential of providing an independent method to date the age of Europa’s surface. Ion sputtering can also lead to the ejection of large amounts of H atoms and H2 molecules into the Jovian magnetosphere as well as the formation of extended oxygen exospheres in the vicinity of the Galilean icy satellites. The newly discovered ionosphere of Europa could be of sputtering origin as well.