Reorientation of Sputnik Planitia implies a subsurface ocean on Pluto
Name
1903.05574.pdf
Description
Accepted version
Size
622.34 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
9df31ad75fef66b2aa84cf5df3383b30
Author(s)
Nimmo, F.
Hamilton, D. P.
McKinnon, W. B.
Schenk, P. M.
Bierson, C. J.
Beyer, R. A.
Moore, J. M.
Stern, S. A.
Weaver, H. A.
Olkin, C. B.
Date Issued
November 2016
Journal
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Nimmo, F. et al. "Reorientation of Sputnik Planitia implies a subsurface ocean on Pluto." Nature 540, 7631 (November 2016): 94-96 © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
The deep nitrogen-covered basin on Pluto, informally named Sputnik Planitia, is located very close to the longitude of Pluto's tidal axis and may be an impact feature, by analogy with other large basins in the Solar System. Reorientation of Sputnik Planitia arising from tidal and rotational torques can explain the basin's present-day location, but requires the feature to be a positive gravity anomaly, despite its negative topography. Here we argue that if Sputnik Planitia did indeed form as a result of an impact and if Pluto possesses a subsurface ocean, the required positive gravity anomaly would naturally result because of shell thinning and ocean uplift, followed by later modest nitrogen deposition. Without a subsurface ocean, a positive gravity anomaly requires an implausibly thick nitrogen layer (exceeding 40 kilometres). To prolong the lifetime of such a subsurface ocean to the present day and to maintain ocean uplift, a rigid, conductive water-ice shell is required. Because nitrogen deposition is latitude-dependent, nitrogen loading and reorientation may have exhibited complex feedbacks.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20148
