Pluto: Is The Icy Dwarf’s Heart Heavy With Deep Water?

First Posted: Sep 29, 2016 06:27 AM EDT
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The evidence for Pluto holding a liquid water ocean, deep beneath its frozen surface, has been growing in the past few months. Now, a new model presented by Brown University researchers supports the hypothesis. What is more interesting is the suggestion that Pluto's ocean could be more than 62 miles/100 kilometers deep.

The study, which was published in Geophysical Research Letters, was conducted by observing the Sputnik Planum's Tombaugh Regio, the icy heart shaped crater that occupies a large space on Pluto's midsection. Researchers have also suggested that the subsurface liquid water under the icy heart has salinity similar to the Dead Sea located on our planet.

"Thermal models of Pluto's interior and tectonic evidence found on the surface suggest that an ocean may exist, but it's not easy to infer its size or anything else about it," said Brandon Johnson, study lead author. "We've been able to put some constraints on its thickness and get some clues about composition."

According to the research, the clue to find the deep liquid ocean underneath Pluto's heart lies in the tidal axis that connects Pluto to its moon, Charon. The dwarf planet and its moon are tidally locked, which means they both face each other on the same sides, with the satellite orbiting at the same pace as its host icy dwarf. Incidentally, the tidal lock leads to the exertion of a greater force on areas with larger mass. Therefore, researchers have suggested that the tidal axis's center has a larger mass, for it to behave the way it does.  

According to the experts, there could be nitrogen ice beneath Sputnik Planum's surface; however its presence may not be thick enough to compensate for the positive mass anomaly. Therefore, scientists are suggesting that what takes place on Pluto is basically isostatic compensation, an anomaly where impact craters get created. During the process, some of the surface has the tendency to rebound back up, pulling the materials beneath it in the process.

The present known models of isostatic compensation usually includes a liquid layer deposit, which could be also the process occurring in Pluto's heart, i.e. Tombaugh Regio. Based on simulations generated of the scenario and subsequent observation of the results, scientists are of the opinion that the surface of Pluto's heart could be hiding a 62 mile thick ocean, with a saline level of 30 percent.

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