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

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-29056-3

Large-scale cryovolcanic resurfacing on Pluto

Nat Commun. 2022 Mar 29;13(1):1542. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29056-3.

Authors

Kelsi N Singer¹, Oliver L White², Bernard Schmitt³, Erika L Rader⁴, Silvia Protopapa⁵, William M Grundy⁶, Dale P Cruikshank⁷, Tanguy Bertrand^{7

8}, Paul M Schenk⁹, William B McKinnon¹⁰, S Alan Stern⁵, Rajani D Dhingra¹¹, Kirby D Runyon¹², Ross A Beyer², Veronica J Bray¹³, Cristina Dalle Ore², John R Spencer⁵, Jeffrey M Moore⁷, Francis Nimmo¹⁴, James T Keane¹¹, Leslie A Young⁵, Catherine B Olkin⁵, Tod R Lauer¹⁵, Harold A Weaver¹², Kimberly Ennico-Smith⁷

Affiliations

¹ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, 80302, USA. [email protected].
² Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA.
³ Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000, Grenoble, France.
⁴ University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA.
⁵ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, 80302, USA.
⁶ Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, USA.
⁷ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA.
⁸ LESIA/Observatoire de Paris, PSL, CNRS UMR 8109, University Pierre et Marie Curie, University Paris-Diderot, 5 place Jules Janssen, F-92195, Meudon Cédex, France.
⁹ Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, 77058, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
¹¹ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA.
¹² Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, 20723, USA.
¹³ University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA.
¹⁵ National Science Foundation National Optical Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, Tucson, AZ, 26732, USA.

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 km³) 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.

Grants and funding

New Horizons Project/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)