https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw Also will never be as cool as its cool moon Charon en-us 2019-04-04 20:19:10 UTC 2023-07-26 07:23:33 UTC hello@padlet.com mikeindy500 https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348721484 There are 3 main theories of the structure of Pluto. All 3 theories have a 'crust' of ice overlaying or containing a rocky core. ]]> 2019-04-04 20:30:31 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348721484 arwenwerno https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348723164 http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2014/0526-will-we-find-signs-of-tectonics-on-pluto.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_Planitia
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Pluto/The-Pluto-System.php#Pluto
https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth107/node/983
Grundy et al. (2016 Science, Vol. 351, aad9189)
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016GL069220
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-pluto-images-from-nasa-s-new-horizons-it-s-complicated/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019103514002206#b0240

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/books/ssbn2008/7035.pdf
https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/images/106/10636.gif

]]> 2019-04-04 20:36:28 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348723164 molliebmartin4 https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348723719 During the New Horizons fly by NASA created a digital elevation model of the topographic features of Pluto. These vary greatly by region including large ice mountains, spider-web like fractures, and a myriad of cratering. Of particular interest are Pluto's ice mountains, described in literature as being 'chaotic' notably not following a linear spatial arrangement, as they can be seen along plate boundaries on Earth. New Horizons also took a number of solar reflectance measurements (albedo) using remote sensing which indicates higher values in the largest known plane (Sputnik Planitia), and in mountainous areas. Regardless of theoretical structure, all have a differentiated core and mantle or crust overlying this. This gives rise to the possibility of cryovolcanics, as volatiles are produced by reactions in the rocky core they enter the mantle/crust in which they are less dense than the medium and rise. These reach the ice surface and are expelled as geysers or sublimate, depending on pressure, forming topography with a volatile dense surface.

The figure show the examples of potentially cryovolcanic landforms on icy satellites.]]> 2019-04-04 20:38:27 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348723719 arwenwerno https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348724417 The surface of Pluto is comprised of volatile ices that amass in the basin, Sputnik Planitia.

The ices are solidified N2 (nitrogen) , Ch4 (methane) and CO (carbon monoxide), that whilst would be gaseous on earth, freeze in Pluto's 40 K temperature. They remain concentrated at the very surface of this ice crust/mantle with everything below likely consisting of ice water.

It is unknown if these volatile ices form a distinct crust or if they integrate into the ice water layer.

Water has also been observed on the surface and would perform as rock at this temperature.

The estimate is that Pluto is approximately 30-35% ice material, located in its outer layer as a crust.
  ]]> 2019-04-04 20:41:08 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348724417 mikeindy500 https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348725256 Tidal bulging is the gravitational attraction between a planetary body and it's moons, causing the fluid on the planet to be moved towards the moon, creating a 'bulge' in the planet at the closest point to its moon. On Pluto, this process has been identified with its moon Charon, along with its other 4 moons. Because of the ice covering the liquid ocean, this tidal bulging causes the ice to crack and move, appearing as if like plates. However, liquid from the underlying ocean will quickly move into these cracks and re-freeze to form a solid crust again.  ]]> 2019-04-04 20:44:54 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348725256 puifaiff https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348727965 The absence of small craters on surface suggests that there is a mechanism required an internal heat sources. Pluto 'may' have radioactive heating such as U,40K,Th. This can provide a thermal gradient as the long-lived radioactive elements affect the short-live radiogenic 26Al and 60Fe.

Temperature profile in the ice shell of Pluto with time variations.  Figure a) has  silicate thermal conductivity k_r=2.5 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹  and b) has  k_r=3.5 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ .  Thus, there are possibilities of a 'warm' final state or a 'cold' final state. The evolution of water layer is sensitive to the thermal properties of the core.

Takeaway: There is an uncertainty of thermal gradient and how it acts relate to tectonics.]]> 2019-04-04 20:56:59 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348727965 arwenwerno https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348728319 Underneath the frozen tundra, it is theorised Pluto has an ocean layer of water and within that, a rocky core consisting of silicate material.

It is thought the rocky core, through its formation and natural radioactivity, will have warmed the ice above it enough to create this ocean.

It is actually unknown if this  layer of water exists but from observed hidden oceans on the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn and our current idea of heat generation and transport, it is a definite possibility.

Important to note, Pluto's layers have differentiated.


]]> 2019-04-04 20:58:28 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348728319 mikeindy500 https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348731520 From our research we have identified that Pluto has multiple icy plates covering its surface. We believe that these plates however, were not created using tectonic activity, but by other processes both internally and externally altering the surface of the icy world. Externally, the gravitational forces experienced by Pluto's 5 moons cause fractures in the icy crust tat appear like tectonic plates. Topographic features that may potentially indicate the presence of tectonic activity such as raised plateaus and mountain ranges are more likely to be the result of cryovolcanism. High albedo values measured from the New Horizons spacecraft indicate deposition of sublimated volatiles at the surface, providing cause for such topography.]]> 2019-04-04 21:12:28 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348731520 puifaiff https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348738741 This image shows the landscape surrounding icy plain Sputnik Planum. ]]> 2019-04-04 21:50:35 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348738741 puifaiff https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348738820 This region is on the northwestern edge of Sputnik Planum. The terrain is jumbled and broken.]]> 2019-04-04 21:51:06 UTC https://padlet.com/arwenwerno/dkg6mle4vjpw/wish/348738820