Pluto May Have An Existing Subsurface Ocean
- 8 years ago
Pluto has proven to be far more geologically active than ever imagined, and researchers believe an existing underground ocean could, in part, be the cause.
Pluto has proven to be far more geologically active than ever imagined, and researchers believe an existing subsurface ocean could, in part, be the cause.
Scientists from Brown University and the Planetary Science Institute focused on tectonic features and how they would be influenced by ice phase formation, including that of ice II.
The frozen material has a greater density than that on Earth and forms through a combination of pressure and temperature.
Lead author Noah P. Hammond notes, “…if the ocean froze, ice II would likely form, causing compressional tectonic features which are absent from the surface. The formation of ice II would cause Pluto to experience volume contraction and compressional tectonic features to form on the surface. Since the tectonic features on Pluto's surface are all extensional and there is no obvious compressional features, it suggests that ice II has not formed and that therefore, Pluto's subsurface ocean has likely survived to present day.”
Pluto has proven to be far more geologically active than ever imagined, and researchers believe an existing subsurface ocean could, in part, be the cause.
Scientists from Brown University and the Planetary Science Institute focused on tectonic features and how they would be influenced by ice phase formation, including that of ice II.
The frozen material has a greater density than that on Earth and forms through a combination of pressure and temperature.
Lead author Noah P. Hammond notes, “…if the ocean froze, ice II would likely form, causing compressional tectonic features which are absent from the surface. The formation of ice II would cause Pluto to experience volume contraction and compressional tectonic features to form on the surface. Since the tectonic features on Pluto's surface are all extensional and there is no obvious compressional features, it suggests that ice II has not formed and that therefore, Pluto's subsurface ocean has likely survived to present day.”