Singer Kelsi N, White Oliver L, Schmitt Bernard, Rader Erika L, Protopapa Silvia, Grundy William M, Cruikshank Dale P, Bertrand Tanguy, Schenk Paul M, McKinnon William B, Stern S Alan, Dhingra Rajani D, Runyon Kirby D, Beyer Ross A, Bray Veronica J, Ore Cristina Dalle, Spencer John R, Moore Jeffrey M, Nimmo Francis, Keane James T, Young Leslie A, Olkin Catherine B, Lauer Tod R, Weaver Harold A, Ennico-Smith Kimberly
Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, 80302, USA.
Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA.
Nat Commun. 2022 Mar 29;13(1):1542. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29056-3.
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 (>10 km) 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.
“新视野号”宇宙飞船传回的图像和成分数据显示，冥王星上的地形跨越了不同的年代，从相对古老、布满撞击坑的区域到撞击坑极少甚至没有撞击坑的非常年轻的表面。撞击坑极少的区域之一以巨大的隆起和起伏不平的侧翼为主。在已成像的太阳系其他任何地方都不存在类似特征。在这里，我们分析了这些特征的地貌和成分，并得出结论，该区域是由冰火山作用重新塑造的，这种类型和规模在目前为止是冥王星独有的。形成这种地形需要多个喷发地点和大量物质（超过10千米）来形成我们所认为的多个几千米高的穹顶，其中一些合并形成更复杂的平面形态。这些巨大特征的存在表明，冥王星的内部结构和演化使得它要么能够更好地保留热量，要么总体热量比“新视野号”之前预期的更多，这使得富含水冰的物质在冥王星历史后期得以活动。
