PREPRINT
1B65EA96-721E-4D61-8D9A-0991A3EF18EF
Large-scale cryovolcanic resurfacing on Pluto
Kelsi N. Singer, Oliver L. White, Bernard Schmitt, Erika L. Rader, Silvia Protopapa, William M. Grundy, Dale P. Cruikshank, Tanguy Bertrand, Paul M. Schenk, William B. McKinnon, S. Alan Stern, Rajani D. Dhingra, Kirby D. Runyon, Ross A. Beyer, Veronica J. Bray, Cristina Dalle Ore, John R. Spencer, Jeffrey M. Moore, Francis Nimmo, James T. Keane, Leslie A. Young, Catherine B. Olkin, Tod R. Lauer, Harold A. Weaver, Kimberly Ennico-Smith
Abstract
The New Horizons spacecraft returned images and compositional data showing
that terrains on Pluto span a variety of ages, ranging from relatively ancient,
heavily cratered areas to very young surfaces with few-to-no impact craters.
One of the regions with very few impact craters is dominated by enormous rises
with hummocky flanks. Similar features do not exist anywhere else in the imaged
solar system. Here we analyze the geomorphology and composition of the features
and conclude this region was resurfaced by cryovolcanic processes, of a type
and scale so far unique to Pluto. Creation of this terrain requires multiple
eruption sites and a large volume of material (>104 km^3) to form what we
propose are multiple, several-km-high domes, some of which merge to form more
complex planforms. The existence of these massive features suggests Pluto's
interior structure and evolution allows for either enhanced retention of heat
or more heat overall than was anticipated before New Horizons, which permitted
mobilization of water-ice-rich materials late in Pluto's history.Preprint
Comment: 22 pages, including both main paper and supplement as one pdf
Subject: Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.06557