Sputnik Planum

Sputnik Planum

Annotated map of Sputnik Planum on Pluto
Location Tombaugh Regio, Pluto
Coordinates 20°N 180°E / 20°N 180°E / 20; 180Coordinates: 20°N 180°E / 20°N 180°E / 20; 180
Eponym Sputnik 1

Sputnik Planum /ˈspʌtnɪk ˈpleɪnəm/,[note 1] or perhaps more correctly Sputnik Planitia,[1] (English translation: Sputnik Plain) is a high-albedo icy plain on Pluto, about 1,050 by 800 km (650 by 500 mi) in size[2] (similar to Hudson Bay). It lies mostly in the northern hemisphere, but extends across the equator. Much of it has a surface of irregular polygons separated by troughs. The polygons are on average about 33 km (21 mi) across.[2] In some cases troughs are populated by blocky mountains or hills, or contain darker material.[3] Sputnik Planum constitutes the western lobe of the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio. There appear to be wind streaks on the surface with evidence of sublimation.[4][5][6] The dark streaks are a few kilometers long and all aligned in the same direction.[3] The plain also contains pits that have possibly formed by sublimation.[3] Sputnik Planum is named after Earth's first artificial satellite. The planum has no craters that were detectable by New Horizons, leading to the conclusion that its surface must be less than 10 million years old.[7]

Composition

The ice composing the plain is thought to consist primarily of nitrogen ice, with smaller fractions of carbon monoxide and methane ice, although relative proportions are uncertain.[8] At Pluto's ambient temperature of 38 K (−235.2 °C; −391.3 °F), nitrogen and carbon monoxide ices are denser and much less rigid than water ice, making glacial-like flows possible; nitrogen ice is the most volatile.[2]

Origin

Sputnik Planum may have originated as an impact basin that was subsequently filled with volatile ices.[2] The accumulation of several kilometers of nitrogen ice in the basin may have resulted from the positive temperature gradient of Pluto's atmosphere, which would make a topographic depression a cold trap.[9] This accumulation would likely then have made Sputnik Planum a positive gravity anomaly, which could have caused polar wander, reorienting the spin axis of Pluto to put the planum near the Pluto-Charon tidal axis (the minimum-energy configuration). Sputnik Planum is presently close to the anti-Charon point on Pluto, a result that has less than a 10% probability of arising by chance.[9]

Convection cells

Geologic map of Sputnik Planum and surroundings (context), with convection cell margins outlined in black

The polygonal structure is a sign of convection of the nitrogen/carbon monoxide ice, with ice warmed by heat from the interior welling up in the center of cells, spreading and then sinking at the ridged margins. Convection cells have about 100 m of vertical relief, with the highest points being at their centers.[10][11] Modeling of nitrogen ice convection cells suggests a depth of about one tenth their width, or 3–4 km for most of the planum, and a maximum flow rate of about 7 cm per year.[2] Cell margins can become pinched off and abandoned as cells evolve.[10]

Other obvious indications of ice flow visible in images of the planum include examples of valley-type glaciers flowing down into the plain from adjacent eastern highlands (the right lobe of Tombaugh Regio), presumably in response to deposition of nitrogen ice there,[8] as well as ice from the planum flowing into and filling adjacent depressions. The planum has numerous blocky hills (one to several km across) that form aggregations at cell margins up to 20 km across; these may represent floating chunks of detached water ice crust that were carried onto the planum by glacial flow and were then collected into troughs by the convection.[2] In some cases the hills seem to form chains along the entry paths of glaciers. The hills may also congregate in nonconvecting regions when they get stuck at locations where the nitrogen ice becomes too shallow.[12]

The planum has numerous pits that are thought to result from fracturing and sublimation of nitrogen ice; these pits also collect in the margins of convection cells.[2] Often the bottoms of the pits are dark, which may represent an accumulation of tholins left behind by the subliming ice, or a dark substrate below the planum, if the pits penetrate all the way through the ice. In regions of the planum where convection cells are not apparent, the pits are more numerous.

Bordering montes

A topographic image of the Sputnik basin, showing the rising scarps bordering the glacial plains. The banding is an artefact of the camera.

On its northwest, Sputnik Planum is bordered by a chaotic set of blocky mountains, the al-Idrisi Montes, which may have formed via the collapse of adjacent water ice highlands onto the planum.[2]

On its southwest, the planum is bordered by the Hillary Montes, rising 1.6 km (0.99 mi; 5,200 ft)[13] above the surface, and, further south, the Norgay Montes, rising 3.4 km (2.1 mi; 11,000 ft)[14] above the surface. These mountains also have a chaotic, blocky character. The mountains were named after Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, who were the first climbers to reach the summit of the highest peak on Earth, Mount Everest, on 29 May 1953.[15] Some groups of hills on the plain are named after spacecraft; for example, “Coleta de Dados”, in honor of the first Brazilian satellite launched into space.[16]

Immediately to the southwest of the Norgay Montes (context) is a large, circular mountain with a central depression, Wright Mons. It has been identified as a possible cryovolcano.[17][18]

Gallery

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference TV-20150718 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference JH-20150718 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NASA-20150717-video was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Chang, Kenneth (17 July 2015). "Pluto terrain yields big surprises in New Horizons images". New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2015. 
High resolution LORRI mosaic of a convecting region of Sputnik Planum (context), up to its northwestern 'shoreline' (released 7 January 2016). Note isolated quadruple cell junction at lower right.[10]
Floating water ice hills in Sputnik Planum (context) aggregate along convection cell margins.[12]
Closeup of sublimation pits (context) at the edge of the planum's cellular terrain (illumination is from the upper left)
Additional views of sublimation pits (context) in convecting (left) and nonconvecting regions; some (left) have dark material within
High-resolution view of sublimation pits (context) in southeast Sputnik Planum
High-resolution enhanced-color views of Sputnik Planum's northwestern (top; context) and western (context) margins, showing the transition (left to right) from ancient cratered highland (Viking Terra), to disrupted, blocky terrain (the al-Idrisi Montes), to the young, flat, textured surface of the planum, with a few water ice hills (the Coleta de Dados Colles, bottom). Near the top of the lower image, at the border between the highlands and the montes, is a flat feature 30 km across (at its widest) that may be a frozen body of nitrogen that was formerly a lake when Pluto's atmospheric pressure was (periodically) higher than at present.[19][20]
Pluto - Norgay Montes (left foreground); Hillary Montes (skyline); Sputnik Planum (right)
Near-sunset view includes several layers of atmospheric haze.

Animated videos

Pluto flyover (July 14, 2015)
(00:30; released September 18, 2015)
(00:50; released December 5, 2015)

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lakdawalla, Emily (2015-12-21). "Pluto updates from AGU and DPS: Pretty pictures from a confusing world". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  3. 1 2 3 Gary, Stuart. "NASA'S New Horizons discovers frozen plains in the heart of Pluto's ‘Heart’". Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "New high-resolution images show Pluto's 'icy, frozen plains'". TheVerge.com. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "New Horizons". Pluto.jhuapl.edu. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Staff (17 July 2015). "NASA – Video (01:20) – Animated flyover of Pluto's icy mountain and plains". NASA & YouTube. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Marchis, F.; Trilling, D. E. (2016-01-20). "The Surface Age of Sputnik Planum, Pluto, Must Be Less than 10 Million Years". PLOS ONE 11 (1): e0147386. arXiv:1601.02833. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1147386T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147386.
  8. 1 2 Umurhan, O. (2016-01-08). "Probing the Mysterious Glacial Flow on Pluto’s Frozen ‘Heart’". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  9. 1 2 Keane, J. T.; Matsuyama, I. (2016). "Pluto followed its heart: true polar wander of Pluto due to the formation and evolution of Sputnik Planum" (PDF). 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Woodlands, Texas. p. 2348.
  10. 1 2 3 Keeter, B. (2016-01-11). "‘X’ Marks a Curious Corner on Pluto’s Icy Plains". NASA. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  11. ↑ Kornfeld, L. (2016-01-09). "New high-resolution images show ice flow on Pluto’s surface". Spaceflight Insider. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  12. 1 2 "Pluto’s Mysterious, Floating Hills". New Horizons mission web site. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
  13. ↑ "NASA’s New Horizons Discovers Exotic Ices on Pluto". SciNews.com. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Staff (18 July 2015). "APOD: 2015 July 18 – Fly Over Pluto". NASA. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  15. ↑ Pokhrel, Rajan (19 July 2015). "Nepal’s mountaineering fraternity happy over Pluto mountains named after Tenzing Norgay Sherpa - Nepal's First Landmark In The Solar System". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Brasil recebe nomenclatura em Plutão". GOASA.
  17. ↑ "At Pluto, New Horizons Finds Geology of All Ages, Possible Ice Volcanoes, Insight into Planetary Origins". New Horizons News Center. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC. 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  18. ↑ Witze, A. (2015-11-09). "Icy volcanoes may dot Pluto's surface". Nature News and Comment. Nature Publishing Group. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  19. ↑ Klotz, I. (2016-03-28). "Pluto May Have Nitrogen Lakes That Freeze and Thaw". Discovery.com. Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  20. ↑ Keeter, W. (2016-03-24). "Pluto: On Frozen Pond". NASA.gov. NASA. Retrieved 2016-03-30.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sputnik Planum.

Notes

  1. ↑ Also /ˈspʊtnɪk/, /ˈplænəm/
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