March 5th 2016
What are Tholin's?
Tholin's are created by exposing gasses like nitrogen, carbon dioxide or methane to UV radiation or high energy particles. From this process develops a spectrum of organic molecules which often form a brownish red biological goo that covers the surface of icy bodies in our solar system. Saturn's moon Titan has an orange yellow haze in its atmosphere that is thought to be a tholin factory while Jupiter's moon Europa has what appears to be tholin (minerals or microbial bacteria) seeping up through cracks on its surface.
Image Credit: Sarah Hörst, Johns Hopkins University
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Tholin is not one thing. Tholin is a term used to describe a broad spectrum of molecules developed under vastly complex and hard to precisely duplicate conditions which are influenced by factors such as temperature, ratio of gasses, the state of those gasses (liquid, solid or gas), pressure (which changes the boiling point of gasses), quantity of UV light or charged particles and at what ratios. Additionally, depending on the conditions that create tholins, some are gooey like tar while others are powdery, some are rusty red while others are brownish yellow. some develop on the surface of icy bodies while others are found in their atmosphere. |
Tholin's are complex organic molecules created by the introduction of energy (UV radiation) into gasses (Nitrogen and Methane gasses are solids, fluids and gasses on Pluto because of the temperature and pressure).
Pluto's Tholin
This image of Pluto's north pole is what one would expect to see when looking for the tell tale signs of Tholin. There is a layer of methane covering the surface in a bluish white snow.
Atop the methane snow is an orange/yellow looking material that is likely tholin. The surface methane is being exposed to UV light creating the light orange colored tholin. |
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Pluto's Atmosphere
Is tholin being produced in Pluto's atmosphere?
New Horizons turned around after it passed Pluto and took this picture illuminating Pluto's atmosphere by the light of the sun. Pluto's atmosphere is blue. I would think we would see some form of yellow or orange colored haze similar to Titan if the atmosphere was producing tholins. Scientist suggest tholins are being produced in the atmosphere and they are simply bending the sun light at an angle that allows for a blue hue. |
If tholin is produced in the atmosphere, it would layer itself evenly across the north pole yet the tholin we see being produced at the north pole is more heavily distributed at higher elevation ridges suggesting this is a surface phenomenon at the north pole more than an atmospheric effect.
This seems to imply the tholin production is taking place on Pluto's surface rather than in the atmosphere (at least at the north pole area), even though it seems necessary for tholins to exist in the atmosphere. I'm confused by this. There's plenty of nitrogen in the atmosphere and UV light does get to Pluto so there should be tholin in it. Why isn't it dispersed evenly across Pluto's north hemisphere surface like the red tar tholin around the equatorial region? Perhaps the tholin produced in the atmosphere collects more heavily at higher terrain elevations as the mountains collide with various bands of tholin rich atmospheric layers while Pluto rotates.
UV light from the Sun would not be sufficiently varied from the tops of mountains to the lower elevations considering the 3 billion miles of space separating the Sun from Pluto. This makes me think it is related to layers of tholin in the atmosphere colliding with raised mountain peaks is a short term effect while the tar like red tholin west of SP is a long term UV cooking effect.
The equatorial zone gets sunlight all year (248 earth years) long. Its pole's, however, are seasonally lit for half its year (124 earth years). This may be why we see thick red tholin around the equator. The poles get snowed on by methane for 124 years then get sun lit for 124 years.
This seems to imply the tholin production is taking place on Pluto's surface rather than in the atmosphere (at least at the north pole area), even though it seems necessary for tholins to exist in the atmosphere. I'm confused by this. There's plenty of nitrogen in the atmosphere and UV light does get to Pluto so there should be tholin in it. Why isn't it dispersed evenly across Pluto's north hemisphere surface like the red tar tholin around the equatorial region? Perhaps the tholin produced in the atmosphere collects more heavily at higher terrain elevations as the mountains collide with various bands of tholin rich atmospheric layers while Pluto rotates.
UV light from the Sun would not be sufficiently varied from the tops of mountains to the lower elevations considering the 3 billion miles of space separating the Sun from Pluto. This makes me think it is related to layers of tholin in the atmosphere colliding with raised mountain peaks is a short term effect while the tar like red tholin west of SP is a long term UV cooking effect.
The equatorial zone gets sunlight all year (248 earth years) long. Its pole's, however, are seasonally lit for half its year (124 earth years). This may be why we see thick red tholin around the equator. The poles get snowed on by methane for 124 years then get sun lit for 124 years.
Pluto's South Pole - The so called "Volcano" Wrights Mons
Below is the exact opposite of what you'd expect to see when looking for tholin on Pluto. Here at the pseudo "volcano" Wrights Mons we see the lighter colored land material still exposed on its higher elevated surfaces where UV light should be converting it into tholin. Instead, we see the elevated surface is lightly colored while deep crevices exhibit signs of red stuff. Deep down in the mouth of the "volcano" are seen pockets of thick red stuff. This scene has puzzled me for some time now. Now, I know why, its because everyone (including me) keeps referring to these holes as volcanoes. I now have a better view of this area and what is occurring here.
The mountain high icebergs are in a deep fluid slurry colliding with a wall of land mud like ice. The land ice is folding under the pressure creating ripples while the iceberg mountains are being folded into the muddy land ice. This would be similar to folding hard chocolate into a dough mixture.
Follow the icebergs from the upper to middle right named Norgay Montes, some are encompassed by the folding land. I've outlined this area in yellow and extended the yellow outline with red lines based on the colors and shapes of material on the surface that don't match the land ice and this shows how the icebergs have been folded and flowed directly into the hole that is being called a volcano.
Follow the icebergs from the upper to middle right named Norgay Montes, some are encompassed by the folding land. I've outlined this area in yellow and extended the yellow outline with red lines based on the colors and shapes of material on the surface that don't match the land ice and this shows how the icebergs have been folded and flowed directly into the hole that is being called a volcano.
I'm saying that the mouth of the "volcano" is the flat surface of a huge iceberg mountain block that has been folded into the land ice. As the land ice has surrounded the iceberg mountain, a cavity was created which will eventually fill, In other words, the "volcano" hole is a natural void where the thick muddy frozen land is flowing around a massive iceberg mountain, like an eddy in a stream going around a bolder.
Below is the same area from a slightly different angle with the brightness and contrast increase by 60% so you can see some of the hidden large blocks that make up the interior of the hole south of Wrights Mons. This large horizontally oriented block structure which has created Piccard Mons is likely one side of the Iceberg seen in the mouth of Wrights Mons. These holes are made by the very large icebergs that are being swallowed by the muddy landscape.
Below is the same area from a slightly different angle with the brightness and contrast increase by 60% so you can see some of the hidden large blocks that make up the interior of the hole south of Wrights Mons. This large horizontally oriented block structure which has created Piccard Mons is likely one side of the Iceberg seen in the mouth of Wrights Mons. These holes are made by the very large icebergs that are being swallowed by the muddy landscape.
While reading a paper on Pluto's atmosphere, I came across these images of Wright Mons where a possible cloud formation was noted. It displays an interesting view of Wright Mons.
A closer view of bottom left image
Same scene below from a different angle. Compare the flat iceberg surfaces to the wrinkled mud like material.
Here is a slightly extended view of the area south of Wright and Piccard Mons showing a series of pits in this area but NASA is not suggesting any of these pits are cryovolcanoes yet they look similar to Wright and Piccard. I call them Not Mons as they are clearly Not cryovolcanoes.
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Eddy Evidence
This is the North East section of Sputnik Planitia. There are two peaks or ice mountains protruding above the fluid, they appear to be connected to the land ice below and are being engulfed by the fluid. We can see the fluid flowing around the mountains creating pockets or eddy's developed behind the obstacle as the nitrogen glacial fluid passes around the mountain peak. In this scene where the fluid is moving around the stationary objects we see eddys on the side opposite to the fluids direction of travel. The face of the mountains which is being hit by the fluid shows ripples as the fluid impacts and rebounds back. This is the opposite of what is seen at Norgay Montes where the icebergs are the objects pressing into the land, hence the eddy at the non volcanoes at Wright Mons is on the opposite side of the blocking object as seen in this image. |
The red stuff in the mouth of the "volcano" is actually the face of an iceberg (broken block of H2O from land ice) that has its tholin side pointing up. Look at the other iceberg mountains, their surfaces look like the lower opening of the "volcano" mouth. The "volcanoes are actually cavities created by a slow flowing land swallowing a mountain sized iceberg, its not a volcano.
In the above scene the icebergs are moving into the land so the eddy is forming opposite the direction of iceberg flow. The icebergs are acting like bulldozers pushing into a muddy berm.
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Iceberg Eddy's
In this view you can see the similarity of the icebergs on the right called Norgay Montes with the two other structures that are being swallowed by the folding mud like land.
Upper center is a very angular shaped object in the muddy ground covered in tholin. The surrounding terrain has folds indicating the land ice is flowing/folding around a sharp angled object. This suggest this object is one of the icebergs laying on its side and getting swallowed by the soft muddy land. Stuck in Muck
Here can be seen multiple sites with jagged edged icebergs demonstrating how the land ice has been softened by the nitrogen flow and is wrapping around the icebergs with rippled waves.
Something else that can be clearly seen in the above images is all the troughs of the rippled land ice are filled with tar like tholin. How does that happen? The tar like tholin floats atop the nitrogen flow accumulating around the edges where the land and the icebergs collide creating ripples in the land. This tar then fills the crevices. We've seen this process on earth with the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska and the British Petroleum oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico where millions of gallons of oil were released and floated on the ocean until it arrived at low lying land areas. This is what is happening to the tar like tholin, its washing off the icebergs and floating into the rippled land areas created as the icebergs twist and torque the softened land. |
My "Polish Planet Hunting" friend thought I was implying the mouth of the "volcano" was a sink hole and asked a logical question.
He asked;
How would you explain the sudden elevation [in the land ice] if it is like a sinkhole?
This was my answer.
Remember tall mountainous icebergs mean really deep fluid. The icebergs are jutting up 2 miles high but are also at least the same depth below and are likely much deeper. This means that for some slow flowing land ice to migrate around the iceberg it would create a vastly deep eddy which will eventually fill in.
For now it's a big hole that is slowly closing in and around the surface of the iceberg which it has successfully surrounded. I explain the elevation by the fact that massively high mountains of ice are colliding with land. The nitrogen fluid is softening the land. This combination is squishing the land into ripples which are engulfing the iceberg mountains. The land ice is rising up in elevation equal to the mean height of the icebergs mass. or something like that.
He asked;
How would you explain the sudden elevation [in the land ice] if it is like a sinkhole?
This was my answer.
Remember tall mountainous icebergs mean really deep fluid. The icebergs are jutting up 2 miles high but are also at least the same depth below and are likely much deeper. This means that for some slow flowing land ice to migrate around the iceberg it would create a vastly deep eddy which will eventually fill in.
For now it's a big hole that is slowly closing in and around the surface of the iceberg which it has successfully surrounded. I explain the elevation by the fact that massively high mountains of ice are colliding with land. The nitrogen fluid is softening the land. This combination is squishing the land into ripples which are engulfing the iceberg mountains. The land ice is rising up in elevation equal to the mean height of the icebergs mass. or something like that.
