May 11th 2016
Throughout our solar system there are a variety of fracture lines on the surfaces of planets that emanate from a central point they are frequently referred to as Spiders.
Spiders are a term I've come to dislike when describing fractures or ridges that migrate to a central point There are a wide variety of features with a multitude of variables that influence the creation of these features, Some are created by external sources called impacts while others form from internal sources such as subsurface pressure or sublimating ices. It seems calling them all the same thing limits our understanding too much when referencing them. NASA has loosely called this set of fractures on Pluto a spider. I'm seeing this scene more as an active cryovolcano as opposed to the theoretical volcano at the south pole called Wright Mons. Since I believe a correct interpretation of this scene is a cryovolcano I'm calling it by the more correct name Right Mons. I'll explain this in more detail below but for now lets look at some "Spiders".
Spiders are a term I've come to dislike when describing fractures or ridges that migrate to a central point There are a wide variety of features with a multitude of variables that influence the creation of these features, Some are created by external sources called impacts while others form from internal sources such as subsurface pressure or sublimating ices. It seems calling them all the same thing limits our understanding too much when referencing them. NASA has loosely called this set of fractures on Pluto a spider. I'm seeing this scene more as an active cryovolcano as opposed to the theoretical volcano at the south pole called Wright Mons. Since I believe a correct interpretation of this scene is a cryovolcano I'm calling it by the more correct name Right Mons. I'll explain this in more detail below but for now lets look at some "Spiders".
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Below is an image of "spiders" on the south pole area of Mars. Planetfour has a lot of good info about "spiders" on Mars and you can even help classify them. I count at least 33 partial or full "spiders" in this one image. The "spider" images on Planetfour are generally 200 meters across while Pluto's "spider" (Right Mons) image to the left is 680 meters across.
After running some numbers I've calculated that NASA's spider (my Right Mons) image is 38 times larger than the images of "Spiders" on Mars. This means you could fit 1,255 Mars "spiders" into this image of Right Mons on Pluto. In other words, the "spiders" on Mars are really, really tiny compared to Right Mons. It's like comparing a beach ball to a BB or a small bearing. Basically there is no comparison, this is one reason I'm calling it Right Mons and not a spider there is another more important reason.
Planetfour is very forthright about the fact they have flipped most of their spider images around 180 degrees. Not sure why they chose to do this but they did and they clearly say so. I want to show you a trick your mind plays on you with light. |
Click the image for a larger view
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To the left is the image of spiders as seen on Planetfour which is upside down from the original. To the right I have spun the image back 180 degrees like it was originally.
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Click the image for a larger view
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The left image of "spiders" look like cracks while the right looks like raised ridges and in fact these features are actually raised. With the correct orientation on the right some of these features do look like creepy crawlies especially the one near the center, looks like a tick (yuck). This inversion phenomenon occurs because our whole lives we see light from above (Sun) and shadows below. When we see something that is turned upside down, our brain forces us to see the opposite conditions even though we are looking at the same image, cool huh.
My point here, is that the images are in fact displaying raised spider like tendrils not cracks.
Pluto's Right Mons is made of real cracks not raised ridges, Since these two features are completely different its like comparing apples to basket balls. No comparison.
Below on the left are Planetfour's adjusted and reoriented images (180 degrees off) while on the right the images are flipped 180 degrees to their correct orientation.
My point here, is that the images are in fact displaying raised spider like tendrils not cracks.
Pluto's Right Mons is made of real cracks not raised ridges, Since these two features are completely different its like comparing apples to basket balls. No comparison.
Below on the left are Planetfour's adjusted and reoriented images (180 degrees off) while on the right the images are flipped 180 degrees to their correct orientation.
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January 8th 2017 Recently found example of another type and set of Spiders on Mars. |
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There are other examples of "Spiders" in the solar system.
I was at one point convinced the joined fractures on Pluto called a "spider" was caused by an impact, primarily because of the two images below one is of an impact on the south western edge of Pluto the other is an impact on Mercury called Pantheon Fossae, a spider which NASA references when describing Rights Mons' "spider". Nobody is suggesting either of these two sites were formed by anything other than impacts. This led me to believe Rights Mons was created by an impact as well.
I was at one point convinced the joined fractures on Pluto called a "spider" was caused by an impact, primarily because of the two images below one is of an impact on the south western edge of Pluto the other is an impact on Mercury called Pantheon Fossae, a spider which NASA references when describing Rights Mons' "spider". Nobody is suggesting either of these two sites were formed by anything other than impacts. This led me to believe Rights Mons was created by an impact as well.
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Fortunately for me, I'm a member of Zooniverse and my friend PolishPlanetPursuer was relentless in describing Right Mons (the spider) as a sort of caldera left over from a time when the land bulged upward under pressure then collapsed creating Right Mons' leg fractures. This pretty much aligns with NASA's view of what caused this scene. NASA and PolishPlanetPursuer were of the opinion that forces from below the surface caused these fractures, I thought a force from outside Pluto caused the fractures. Since I can be stubborn or dense, PolishPlanetPursuer had to draw it out for me.
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This image and drawing shows his idea, Pressure from below raised a bulge some fractures occurred which spilled out ripples of land ice to the eastern side creating oddly shaped ridges looking similar to scales. The pressure was relieved which allowed the land ice to then settle back down. PolishPlanetPursuer compared this to the process we see at Mount Saint Helens where one side of the volcano ruptured and spat out debris. |
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This caused me to open my eyes and look with a new view at what I had thought was an impact site.
When I did, I saw something that had been staring me in the face the whole time. There is a dome in the middle very much like we see at Mt. St. Helens. The spider I call Right Mons is a unique feature on Pluto. Right Mons is a cryovolcano in the center of these fractures and it has 3 holes which are partially filled internally but more importantly there is a raised outer mound, strongly suggesting something spewed out of these holes and may be doing so currently to relieve pressure from below. This is the clearest evidence of an active cryovolcano I've yet noticed on Pluto. |
On the previous page called "Vents" the conically shaped holes are like pot holes or sink holes frequently lining fractures but here it looks very much like an active volcano dome right at the center of all these fractures. The material spewing up at the center is slightly yellowish in color. and there is more of this yellowish material lining the fractures to the east suggesting all this yellowish stuff is coming up from below as it creates new surface land forms.
During Pluto's winter years this scene likely freezes but during the summer years when SP gets active it is likely creating pressure and relieving pressure forming a dome along with ripples in the landscape as is seen along the right edge of this image.
Compare Right Mons' cryovolcano to the theoretical cryovolcano at Pluto's southern area called Wrong Mons, oops Freudian slip, I meant Wright Mons, where massive icebergs are mushing into a mud like material getting swallowed in the process. See Page 11 and page 48 for more info
During Pluto's winter years this scene likely freezes but during the summer years when SP gets active it is likely creating pressure and relieving pressure forming a dome along with ripples in the landscape as is seen along the right edge of this image.
Compare Right Mons' cryovolcano to the theoretical cryovolcano at Pluto's southern area called Wrong Mons, oops Freudian slip, I meant Wright Mons, where massive icebergs are mushing into a mud like material getting swallowed in the process. See Page 11 and page 48 for more info
Visit Page 11 and definitely page 48 for more details on why I don't think Wright Mons is a cryovolcano. Wright Mons is a series of mountain sized icebergs plowing into a muddy berm getting slowly swallowed. The icebergs are 2 miles high indicating they are likely 4 miles deep floating in the Sputnik Planitia fluid creating vast cavities in the frozen mud like land which look like eddies. These icebergs are like a bulldozer plowing into and being swallowed by a muddy berm.
If you want to see something that looks like a real cryovolcano look at the center of NASA's spider which I'm calling Right Mons.
Pluto never stops amazing me.
If you want to see something that looks like a real cryovolcano look at the center of NASA's spider which I'm calling Right Mons.
Pluto never stops amazing me.
Update May 21st 2016
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Now that I know what a cryovolcano looks like on Pluto, my eyes have been opened to see them elsewhere. Whereas, once I said I did not see any evidence of vents or cryovolcanoes west of SP, now I do. They appear to run in line with the North/South Ridge line. This could be a trick of shadows but the raised peaks with holes at the center seems to strongly suggest something is welling up from below creating these mounds. Some have holes on the edge of the mound but volcanoes on Earth exhibit this effect as well. The fact they run in a line which is in line with the ridge and near its edge supports the idea of material belching up from below releasing pressure. These cryovolcanoes are sandwiched between the icebergs which are mashing into the land ice and the Viking Terra bulged land to the west, suggesting there actually may be gasses developing under the bulge as the ices grind against each other creating some degree of pressure and heat. |
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More updates below August 11, 2016
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lakagigar or Laki for short is a Fissure vent also known as a volcanic fissure that follows the Mid Atlantic ridge where the North American and Eurasian Plates are separating in Iceland. Look at how similar these volcanic mounds look to the cryovolcanoes that run along the ridge line west of SP. |
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Here's Pluto's cryovolcanoes lining the western edge of SP along with a lake that looks very much like the scene at Lakagigar in Iceland. On Earth this scene is occurring at a location where two plates are pulling apart from each other. This seems to indicate Pluto is ripping apart along the western edge of SP. Laki erupted in 1783 and caused global cooling and many deaths around the world. Benjamin Franklin reported on its effects in Europe and North America. |
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In this Google maps satellite view of Laki, I've tried to orient the scene to look as close to the cryovolcanoes on Pluto as I could. vast quantities of magma flowed out of these fissures and you can see ripples and flow patterns emanating out of the Laki volcanic mounds to the left and top. On Pluto the dynamics appear to be a bit different because of the cold temperatures. It looks like gasses vented and rained or snowed down onto the landscape rather than acting like a belching flowing fluid. The terrain surrounding the cryovolcanic fissure's on Pluto is red but immediately next to the fissures the area is dusted in white material all along the fissure line. Each fissure mound is white while the surroundings are red. |
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When Laki erupted it spewed clouds of poisonous gasses into Earth's atmosphere.
Pluto likely had its own version of this venting of gasses scenario spewing out from the cryovolcanoes creating an atmosphere of gasses that either heated or cooled the planet. The cold temperatures would have frozen some of the gasses quickly turning them into a snow.
On Earth these gasses prevented Sun light from getting to the surface causing global cooling. If something of this nature occurred on Pluto the gasses would likely create more atmospheric pressure which would act to increase the sublimation of some volatiles while at the same time restricting Sun light energy which would cool things. But on Pluto it's atmosphere would be way too thin to block much of the Suns meager rays plus there are no signs of any types of dark minerals on the surface of Pluto so its out-gassing would have been lighter nitrogen methane and carbon monoxide.
Pluto likely had its own version of this venting of gasses scenario spewing out from the cryovolcanoes creating an atmosphere of gasses that either heated or cooled the planet. The cold temperatures would have frozen some of the gasses quickly turning them into a snow.
On Earth these gasses prevented Sun light from getting to the surface causing global cooling. If something of this nature occurred on Pluto the gasses would likely create more atmospheric pressure which would act to increase the sublimation of some volatiles while at the same time restricting Sun light energy which would cool things. But on Pluto it's atmosphere would be way too thin to block much of the Suns meager rays plus there are no signs of any types of dark minerals on the surface of Pluto so its out-gassing would have been lighter nitrogen methane and carbon monoxide.
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The central point around which the Earth and Moon rotate called the barycenter is about a thousand miles from the Earth's surface or a quarter the distance to its actual center. As the Moon orbits the earth it pulls and stretches this spot.
This creates deformations in the Earths outer crust and causes volcanic eruptions. This is likely why Sputnik Planitia is directly opposite Charon. SP is a location at which Pluto is ripping apart and spewing out its nitrogen fluid interior just like magma on Earth. |
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On my Nitrogen page 71, I show how Elliot crater, Bread Slice and the five vertical cryovolcanoes are currently active.
