The New Horizons spacecraft spied extensional faults on Pluto, a sign that the dwarf planet has undergone a global expansion possibly due to the slow freezing of a subsurface ocean. A new analysis by Brown University scientists bolsters that idea, and sug (Photo : NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)
The latest high resolution images of Pluto transmitted by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reveals how the dwarf planet is apparently hiding a liquid ocean under its frozen crust.
Scientists from Brown University have determined using a computer model involving a simulation of Pluto's evolution based from images sent back by New Horizons, that this subsurface ocean could have most likely existed today.
The simulation reveals that if there was no ocean on Pluto, the dwarf planet would have shown some considerable shrinking. However, current observations do not reveal any telltale signs of shrinking, where scientists now suggest that the liquid ocean underneath Pluto's surface is still existing, as data also indicates how Pluto could be even expanding in size.
According to lead author of the study, Noah Hammond from the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University, there are no observations on the surface that are expected following any global contractions, in which we conclude that ice has not yet formed, therefore making the ocean not completely frozen.
This new Pluto model is known as the thermal evolution model, revealing a simulation of the dwarf planet, showing how this underground ocean would possess a special type of ice consisting of reduced volume. The team believes that this certain type of ice found underneath the crust would have a thick, icy shell where nitrogen and methane ice slabs can allow heat to be trapped in the planet's interior.
Hammond adds how the incredible data that was beamed back by New Horizons has been very crucial, as this data is an important addition in updating the thermal evolution model, suggesting how Pluto most likely possess a global subsurface ocean today. The team also says how these recent findings can provide additional insight about the existence of massive flowing oceans under the crust of planets and other planetary bodies in the solar system and beyond.
This new study is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
