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Pluto will continue to rotate as far as 127 degrees before it starts to cycle back to 103 degrees. This whole round trip process apparently takes 2.8 Myr.
Ammonia hydrates identified on the small moon's would naturally get disassembled by the Sun's photons within 20 million years. Pluto's wobble of 24 degrees every 1.4 Myr (Milankovitch cycle) establishes the conditions for nitrogen to reach its triple point. The occurrence of nitrogen reaching its triple point aligns with the time frame needed for us to detect the presence of ammonia on the small moon's surfaces. |
I have been calling this "V" shaped area south of Sputnik Planitia (SP), a pit which is deeper than the larger northern area of SP. But now as the result of visualizing SP as a caldera, I'm beginning to question this theory's strength.
Visualizing SP as a caldera creating polygonal convection cell mounds produced by lava lamp style bubbling nitrogen welling up from below as a direct reflection of a hotter subsurface area posses a problem for my theory about this southern area being a deeper pit than SP. This effect at SP on earth would be the equivalent of magma rising up from below churning the surface material as it cooled into cells then dropping back under the surface as is regularly seen in calderas. |
I theorized chunks of Pluto were dislodged at this location and they still could have been but it seems this area should be showing signs of roiling activity not dormancy if it were deep enough to connect and convect subsurface heat like we see in SP north of this location.
I am now having to readjust my thinking on this V shaped spot near Norgay Montes. Since we can't see below the surface, chunks of land ice or crust could easily be missing but this area seems cooler or less active than SP indicating it is probably more shallow not deeper. |
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This is a James Keane drawing related to phenomenon at Norgay Montes with notes taken during an Alan Howard lecture.
Some significant info presented in these notes say "Floating icebergs? (Difficult, since the density contrast between N2 and H2O is low --> would need big roots) Grounded icebergs? Dragged blocks?" One of two scenarios could explain the two mile high icebergs at Norgay. They are either resting on bedrock or floating. If they are floating then this area is really really deep. If they are resting on bedrock then the area may not be all that deep. The fact the surface is not churning creating convection cellular mounds indicate the material is cooler than seen to the north and likely means this area is shallow not deep. |
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If the eccentricity of an ellipse is close to one (like 0.8 or 0.9), the ellipse is long and skinny. If the eccentricity is close to zero, the ellipse is more like a circle. The eccentricity of Earth's orbit is very small, so Earth's orbit is nearly circular. Earth's orbital eccentricity is less than 0.02. The orbit of Pluto is the most eccentric of any planet in our Solar System. Pluto's orbital eccentricity is 0.2488.
Again, not sure how much I believe in age dating from circular orbits. We have millions of junk debris and satellites orbiting Earth which we've placed there in a mere 50 years. Their orbits are mostly circular and all that was needed to put them there was the correct ejection velocity. |
I've looked around Pluto for similar structures and this is the best I can come up with. The similarities to the Siberian holes are how the edge has rough scattered debris.
This image shows a very peculiar mound in the middle with a divot in the center of the mound. I know impacts can form peaks in the middle but a peak with a central divot is something different. This suggest that the center was raised and formed just like a cryovolcano. There are many examples of mounds in the middle of impacts on Pluto and several have these divots suggesting the mounds in the middle are being pushed up from below. |
Here's an elevation map primarily of Sputnik Planitia but to the left is Viking Terra which according to the colored legend bar is the highest elevated surface in this image.
This along with other proof indicate Viking Terra is being pushed up from below by subsurface pressures. Just to the south of Viking Terra sits Elliot crater along a massive expansion fracture where the ice has ripped apart. The fracture runs through the northern portion of Elliot crater. Elliot and Bread Slice crater's have a mountain in the middle with fluid pouring out from the central peak. |
On Charon there are ammonia hydrate (NH3+H2O) blotches contained only on its leading hemisphere, suggesting Charon's orbital rotation causes it to pick up either nitrogen (N2+H2O converts to NH3) or expelled ammonia (NH3) from Pluto as they orbit each other. |
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