This page is a continuation of the thoughts expressed on page 29 Tectonics where I discuss the formation of the Tartarus Dorsa or Desert Dunes and how they are formed.
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This image is simply to give a reference point for the next images.
I'm going to discuss the outlined areas in order from 1 to 4. |
Zone 1
Pluto's split personality continues to remain in tact even near the North Pole area. One of the spider's fractures approaches this area from the south and as we saw on Page 29, mud daubers speckle the terrain along the spider's southern fractures. As we migrate further north and west, these mud daubers eventually go away. On the far western side of the North Pole there are fractures but they do not exhibit these mud dauber like features. This continues to suggest there are some differing processes occurring below the surface of the eastern side of Pluto than we see on the western side and these differences reach from north to south.
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In zone 1, there is a recent impact which entered from the left. It created two concentric circles in the land ice from shock waves.
The impact is young as tholin is still exposed. The methane snow has yet to cover the scene. The outer edge of the subsurface damage is smooth looking more like a fluid while the inner edge is jagged and lined with a few mud daubers. This impact scenario repeats in zone 3. |
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The more I look at it the more it looks like the shock wave damage with the smooth looking melt extends much further than I pointed out in the images above.
This demonstrates two things, how far shock wave damage can travel relative to the size of the impacting object and how difficult it can be to define the borders of the damage. There are ring patterns within this area helping to outline the fluid which created a basin looking depression. This looks similar to the western basin called Peri Planitia. |
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Zone 2
As we travel further north we begin to see the last of the mud daubers. So far, they have followed a relatively straight line from the spider's visible fracture northward. There is also a possible cryovolcano in the area where we see the last of these mud dauber features. The terrain north of this tends to display angular peaked mountains with erosion patterns rather than holes facing a particular direction. You can see them along the left edge near the top of this image as well as at the top right of center.
Zone 3
Here's an impact crater with a ridge line of mountains (circled in yellow arrows) and a raised rim of debris (circled in sky blue arrows). Once the large object impacted creating a rim, it also likely disturbed and softened the land ice via shock waves further outward which turned into crumpled angular peaked mountains. This suggest to me, the object impacted from the right side of the image dispersing most of its energy toward the left.
This scene tells two additional stories. The mantle ice, (exposed as a raised plateau) at the center of the impact is very hard compared to the yellowish brown snow that lines the raised rim. The plateau is raised on the right side and dips down on the left as it is buried into the land from the direction of impact. The lighter yellowish brown snow was kicked out during impact creating a trench around the right half of the plateau. This area is around the same latitude as the impact with the cryovolcano but does not show signs of the mud daubers, instead the mountain peaks are relatively angular and steep without mud dauber holes. This suggest the sub surface fluid from SP does not migrate this far east.
This scene tells two additional stories. The mantle ice, (exposed as a raised plateau) at the center of the impact is very hard compared to the yellowish brown snow that lines the raised rim. The plateau is raised on the right side and dips down on the left as it is buried into the land from the direction of impact. The lighter yellowish brown snow was kicked out during impact creating a trench around the right half of the plateau. This area is around the same latitude as the impact with the cryovolcano but does not show signs of the mud daubers, instead the mountain peaks are relatively angular and steep without mud dauber holes. This suggest the sub surface fluid from SP does not migrate this far east.
This is still zone 3 but showing how the influence of the impact extends further toward the north and east. The area outlined in blue shows a softer more fluid damaged basin like landscape from the impact.
The green line is the raised rim.
The yellow line is the brownish snow ejecta that's been blown out.
The red is the crumpled surface.
The blue is a basin that developed from the impact's shock wave which created a fluid shaped depression.
There are practically no impact craters in the blue lined basin, the surface is smooth except where bulged mountains have risen from subsurface pressures.
Here it is without any lines. (well almost). This impact looks very much like the model drawn by PolishPlanetPursuer on page 30
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