2023-11-05 05:00:05
The dwarf planet Pluto continues to surprise scientists. Recently, an intriguing geological formation was identified on its surface: an ice volcano.
In photos from NASA’s New Horizons mission, the structure called Caldera Kiladze was initially mistaken for a crater. However, an in-depth analysis reveals that it is in reality an ice supervolcano having experienced several major eruptions. According to researchers, these eruptions would have expelled almost a thousand kilometers of cryo-lava cubes.
Credit: NASA/JPL
Cryovolcanoes differ from terrestrial volcanoes in erupting from ice, water, and gas instead of molten rock. Present in some places in the Solar System, such as on the dwarf planet Ceres, they are also responsible for the famous jets of Enceladus.
Dale Cruikshank, NASA planetary scientist and lead author of the study, reveals the existence of at least two other cryovolcanic structures on Pluto, Wright Mons and Piccard Mons. Kiladze is distinguished by its environment (The environment is everything that surrounds us. It is the set of natural elements and…) rich in water ice, normally hidden under methane snows (Methane is a hydrocarbon with crude formula CH4. It is the simplest compound of…) and other deposits. This context, as well as its location between faults, suggests that Kiladze is no ordinary impact crater.
The discovery of ammonia mixed with the ice around the volcano is decisive. Ammonia, lowering the freezing point of water, could allow it to flow in the form of liquid cryo-lava (The liquid phase is a state of matter. In this form, matter is…). Furthermore, ammonia is a key compound in prebiotic chemistry.
The water ice exposure indicates that Kiladze is relatively young or formed recently on a geological scale. Cruikshank estimates that Kiladze and its surroundings are only a few million years old.
The central question remains the origin of this cryolava. Pluto would have formed a global internal ocean. Residual heat, aided by substances like ammonia, could keep this ocean in a liquid state, causing episodic eruptions.
The mystery remains, and the solution could reveal important information about the evolution of planets and the presence of water in the Universe.
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