Question
The latent heat of melting is the amount of energy needed to convert a solid substance at its melting temper-
ature to a liquid at the same temperature. For typical volcanic rocks, the latent heat of melting is around
5×105 J/kg, which means it takes 5×105 J to turn 1 kg of volcanic rock from solid at its melting temperature
to liquid at the same temperature. Assuming that providing the latent heat of melting is the only important
time-limiting step in turning Io’s rocks to liquid, how much time does it take to completely melt all of Io’s
crust? This is the resurfacing time for Io.
ature to a liquid at the same temperature. For typical volcanic rocks, the latent heat of melting is around
5×105 J/kg, which means it takes 5×105 J to turn 1 kg of volcanic rock from solid at its melting temperature
to liquid at the same temperature. Assuming that providing the latent heat of melting is the only important
time-limiting step in turning Io’s rocks to liquid, how much time does it take to completely melt all of Io’s
crust? This is the resurfacing time for Io.
Answers
drwls
It seems to me that you need to know the thickness of the crust and how fast heat is added to it. This information is not provided.