Jessica Allen

Wesley Adams
November 30, 2015
PHYS 1040

Ice Volcanoes on Pluto

http://www.space.com/31073-pluto-ice-volcano-mountains-photos.html

In July of 2015 NASAs New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto giving humanity its
first good look at the dwarf planets surface (Redd). Before New Horizons captured the pictures
of Pluto, the best picture available to NASA and the general public was very fuzzy and not many
details of the surface could be identified. As a result of this flyby, scientists have discovered that
Pluto has a much younger surface than originally thought. This suggests that there must be a heat
source under the surface which keeps the geological activity on the surface active. The images
received from New Horizons pictures two mountain peaks that are nearly 4 miles high. Scientists
also suggest that the physical features of the peaks might indicate that they are volcanoes.
According to Oliver White, a New Horizons postdoctoral researcher for NASA, These
two are really extraordinary features, nothing like this has ever been seen in the solar system,
(qtd. Redd). Also extraordinary about these peaks is that even though cryovolcanism has been
applied to other objects in our solar system, the features on Pluto are unique (White qtd.
Redd). Other examples of cryovolcanism in our solar system are Saturns frozen moon
Enceladus, which spews material whose source comes from fissures in the ground, and has been
hypothesized to exist on Titan, another one of Saturns moons. The two peaks have been
nicknamed Wright Mons and Picard Mons. The physical characteristics of both mountains
include a central crater which resembles a shield volcano on Earth.
Although scientists are still perplexed as to why Pluto contains the heat to have
geological activity, they have several theories to indicate why. One theory that could indicate

why Pluto is generating heat under the surface is that the mantle is made of an ammonia-water
slush. This idea was presented at the 47th annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Services
of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Research done by Alex Trowbridge, a graduate
student, and Jay Melosh, a Perdue University professor, indicates that the heat could be
generated from cooler material sinking and hot material rising; this can [lead] to geological
activity that could include cryovolcanism (Redd). Another theory that was emphasized by
White, is that the gradually cooling rocky core radiates heat which melts the ice causing the
geological activity.
The potential discovery of volcanoes on Pluto is exciting in the astronomical world for a
few different reasons. The two volcanoes may be a part of an even bigger mountain range that
was not visible at the time of the flyby of New Horizons; this could indicate even more
cryovolcanoes on the surface of Pluto. This discovery is also fascinating because although
cryovolcanism has been used to describe other things in our solar system this is the first time a
cryovolcano has ever been observed in our solar system.