Giant ice volcanoes discovered on Pluto

In a new review of photos of Pluto taken as part of NASA’s New Horizons mission, relatively recently multiple cryovolcanisms (ice volcanoes) have taken place on the dwarf planet’s surface. Evidence of the incident was allegedly discovered.

Cryovolcanism activity on the surface of Pluto

Southwest Research Institute scientists, working on the images captured by the New Horizons spacecraft as it passed by Pluto in 2015, examined an area containing two peaks on the surface of the dwarf planet.

The team studied an area southwest of the heart-shaped plain known as Sputnik Planitia. There are numerous mounds in the area ranging from 1 to 7 km in length and 30 to 100 km in width. That is, the surface consists of irregularly interconnected hills, mounds and depressions. The fact that the region has very few craters indicates that it is geologically young.

Researchers who made inferences on this land structure observed in the studies think that the area became this way due to cryovolcanism involving slushy ice, water and liquid ammonia.

Study co-author Kelsi Singer said: “One of the benefits of exploring new places in the solar system is that we find things we didn’t expect. These giant, strange-looking cryovolcanoes observed by New Horizons are a great example of how we’re expanding our knowledge of volcanic processes and geological activity on icy worlds. ” made statements.

Researchers with current inferences Together, they produced hypotheses about how cryovolcanism events occurred due to the previously thought structure of Pluto. The team notes that the dwarf planet’s interior must have had more heat in its past or must have retained heat for longer than previously thought.