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The Geology of Pluto Pluto System After New Horizons 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2133) 7005.pdf THE GEOLOGY OF PLUTO. K. N. Singer1, O. L. White2,3, J. M. Moore3, A. D. Howard4, P. M. Schenk5, D. A. Williams6, R. M. C. Lopes7, S. A. Stern1, K. Ennico3, C. B. Olkin1, H. A. Weaver8, L. A. Young1, and the New Hori- zons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Theme Team. 1Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, 80302, 2SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, 3NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, 4Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, 85719, 5Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, 77058, 6Arizona State University, Tem- pe, AZ, 85281, 7NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, 91109, 8Johns Hopkins University Ap- plied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, 20723. Introduction: The flyby of NASA’s New Horizons frequently reveal the importance of N2 ice glaciation spacecraft [1] past Pluto on 14 July 2015 yielded ro- and surface-atmosphere interactions throughout Pluto’s bust data sets that permitted geological analysis for history [3,4,25-33]. Aside from features influenced by more than 50% of its surface. The encounter hemi- the atmosphere, Wright and Piccard Montes may repre- sphere of Pluto was imaged at a pixel scale equal to or sent cryovolcanic edifices and if so they may yield in- better than 890 m/pixel, revealing an unexpectedly formation about Pluto’s thermal history [3,34]. diverse range of terrains and implying a complex geo- Pluto’s Geological History: The N2 ice of Sputnik logical history [2,3]. A digital elevation model con- Planitia is mostly contained within an elongate depres- structed for the encounter hemisphere [4] is an essen- sion measuring 1200 by 2000 km wide [4], interpreted tial dataset for assessing the relief and relative eleva- to be an impact basin that likely dates to >4 Ga [3]. tions of Pluto’s various terrains. The remaining >25% This basin represents a powerful cold trap for volatiles of the imaged surface is the anti-encounter hemisphere, [15], and modeling of volatile behavior in response to imaged at pixel scales coarser than 2.2 km/pixel, typi- topography has shown that infilling of the basin with cally allowing only surface features on a scale of tens all available surface N2 ice would be complete by tens of kilometers to be discerned for this hemisphere. This of millions of years after its formation [23], meaning presentation reviews the primary processes that are that Sputnik Planitia has existed on Pluto’s surface for thought to drive Pluto’s geology, and constructs a nar- the majority of its history, and has undergone continual rative of its geological history. resurfacing via convection, glacial flow, and sublima- The Source of Pluto’s Geological Diversity: tion/recondensation since its formation. Uplands to the Pluto’s geological provinces are often highly distinct, north and west of Sputnik Planitia have been erosional- and can exhibit disparate crater spatial densities ly sculpted into a variety of dissected terrains with [3,5,6]. Pluto’s geology displays evidence for having dendritic valley networks, interpreted to have been been affected by both endogenic and exogenic energy carved by the flow of glacial N2 ice [30], and the infil- sources (including internal heating and insola- ling of Sputnik Planitia would have been accompanied tion/climatic effects). The geology’s complex nature is by recession of N2 ice glaciation from these areas, with caused by combinations of these influences governing profound geological consequences. The washboard the distribution and behavior of different surface com- and fluted terrain on the northwestern rim of Sputnik positional suites to strongly varying degrees across Planitia is interpreted to be refractory debris entrained even small lateral distances. Most surprisingly, large- in the glacial N2 ice that was deposited on the land- scale surface renewal in response to internal heating is scape after its recession [25]. The northwestern rim of ongoing through the present day, as demonstrated Sputnik Planitia appears to be a convergence zone of compellingly by the sprawling, convecting N2 ice two large-scale fracture systems, including a complex, plains of Sputnik Planitia [7-11]. This landform, which eroded, north-south-oriented ridge-trough system dominates the encounter hemisphere, has likely been ~300-400 km wide and extending >3200 km long (and one of the most influenential features on Pluto’s geo- which may pre-date the Sputnik basin) [4], and the logical and atmospheric evolution for much of its histo- younger, more sharply-defined, segmented grabens ry. Sputnik Planitia has been the subject of investiga- informally named Inanna, Dumuzi, and Virgil Fossae. tion on its role in Pluto’s tectonism and polar orienta- The blocky mountain ranges that line Sputnik Planitia’s tion [12-15]. At both global and local scales, mobiliza- western edge are interpreted to have formed via glacial tion and transport of volatiles across Pluto on geologi- N2 ice receding from the uplands intruding this tectoni- cal timescales appear to have played a prominent role cally fractured and brecciated H2O ice crust, with crus- in determining the appearance and distribution of tal fragments breaking form tilted blocks that are now Pluto’s highly varied landscapes, as shown by climate grounded in the denser N2 ice of Sputnik Planitia [30]. modeling [16-24]. Mapping and landform evolution Beyond Sputnik Planitia, the primary influence on modeling studies have sought to decipher the nature Pluto’s geology appears to be atmosphere-surface vola- and origins of individual terrain types on Pluto, which tile transport, which is strongly controlled by Pluto’s Pluto System After New Horizons 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2133) 7005.pdf eccentric seasons and climate zones [18-20], a conse- nik Planitia [30], with the N2 ice subsequently re- quence of its high obliquity that varies between 103° entering Sputnik Planitia via glacial flow. These up- and 127° on a 2.76 million year cycle [35]. The se- lands may therefore represent a glacially modified por- quence of dark maculae that extend along Pluto’s equa- tion of the bladed terrain [28]. torial regions exist within Pluto’s permanent diurnal South of Sputnik Planitia, the twin edifices of zone, and experience the “mildest” climate of any re- Wright and Piccard Montes reach >150 km in diameter gion on Pluto. The low albedo is interpreted to be and >4 km high, with large central depressions reach- caused by atmospheric deposition of complex mole- ing tens of km across, and which are deeper than the cules called tholins upon the landscape [22]. The mac- edifices are high. Tentatively interpreted as cryovol- ulae have not been affected by geological processes, in canic in origin [3,34], these structures exhibit very few particular seasonal mobilization of volatile ices [20], superposed craters, and so potentially represent evi- that would disrupt the continuous mantle of tholins dence for endogenic heating having been sufficient to since their deposition, and therefore are likely amongst facilitate the eruption of cryolavas onto Pluto’s surface the oldest landscapes on Pluto. The informally named relatively late in its history (possibly ~1 Ga or later). Cthulhu Macula, the largest of the maculae, includes Acknowledgments: New Horizons team members regions that display very high densities of large and gratefully acknowledge funding from NASA’s New relatively unmodified craters [3,5,6], another testament Horizons project. to the great age of these landscapes. The tholin mantle References: [1] Stern S. A. (2008) Space Sci. Rev., becomes discontinuous and then dissipates completely 140, 3-22. [2] Stern S. A. et al. (2015) Science, 350, north of 37°N, the northern boundary of the diurnal aad1815. [3] Moore J. M. et al. (2016) Science, 351, zone oscillation range. This north polar zone always 1284-1293. [4] Schenk P. M. et al. (2018) Icarus, 314, experiences arctic seasons, with up to century-long 400-433. [5] Robbins S. J. et al. (2017) Icarus, 287, summers and winters during each orbit, and so should 187-206. [6] Singer K. N. et al. (2019) Science, 363, experience pronounced volatile cycling in response to 955-959. [7] McKinnon W. B. et al. (2016) Nature, the extreme temperature variations across a Plutonian 534, 82-85. [8] Trowbridge A. J. et al. (2016) Nature, year, yielding younger surface ages than for the non- 534, 79-81. [9] Vilella K. and Deschamps F. (2017) J. Sputnik permanent diurnal zone. Evidence for volatile Geophys. Res. Planets, 122, 1056-1076. [10] Buhler P. mobilization outside the permanent diurnal zone in- B. and Ingersoll A. P. (2018) Icarus, 300, 327-340. cludes the informally named Piri Rupes, interpreted to [11] Wei Q. et al. (2018) Astrophys. Journ. Lett., 856, be a recessional scarp where a volatile surface layer L14. [12] Johnson B. C. et al. (2016) Geophys. Res. has sublimated above a refractory substrate [3], and the Lett., 43, 10,068-10,077. [13] Keane J. T. et al. (2016) mantled uplands northeast of Sputnik Planitia, which Nature, 540, 90-93. [14] Nimmo F. et al. (2016) Na- appear to be covered by smooth-surfaced deposits that ture, 540, 94-96. [15] Hamilton D. P. et al. (2016) Na- may be derived from slow atmospheric vapor conden- ture, 540, 97-99. [16] Bertrand T. and Forget F. (2016) sation, and some of which have been modified by sub- Nature, 540, 86-89. [17] Stern S. A. et al. (2017) Ica- limation pitting [31]. rus, 287, 47-53. [18] Binzel R. P. et al. (2017) Icarus, The bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa east of Sput- 287, 30-36. [19] Earle A. M. et al. (2017) Icarus, 287, nik Planitia is amongst the highest elevation terrain on 37-46. [20] Earle A.
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