April 9th, 2017
The triple point of an element or compound is when it's at the correct pressure and temperature to exist in a
gas, liquid and solid state.
When nitrogen or water reach this point, they will transition between these three states with interesting results.
Here are two cool videos demonstrating what happens to nitrogen and then water when they reach their triple point.
gas, liquid and solid state.
When nitrogen or water reach this point, they will transition between these three states with interesting results.
Here are two cool videos demonstrating what happens to nitrogen and then water when they reach their triple point.
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The most interesting thing to me about this process of nitrogen sitting at its triple point is how a solid cap develops on top of the liquid which then traps gasses boiling off the liquid creating a pressure cooker effect. When the gasses build up enough, the frozen solid lid ejects off the liquid with explosive results. This process may explain how Nix was ejected off Pluto and considering the repetitive frequency with which the nitrogen boils solidifies then liquefies, Pluto at some point may have acted like a pumping machine firing chunks repeatedly into orbit.
In this press conference, Alan Stern and Dr. Richard Benzil (FAST FORWARD TO 9min 28sec below video) explained how Pluto experiences Milankovitch cycles or axial wobble greater than 24 degrees which in turn increases the atmospheric pressure on Pluto such that nitrogen reaches its triple point. This happens every 800,000 years.
In this press conference, Alan Stern and Dr. Richard Benzil (FAST FORWARD TO 9min 28sec below video) explained how Pluto experiences Milankovitch cycles or axial wobble greater than 24 degrees which in turn increases the atmospheric pressure on Pluto such that nitrogen reaches its triple point. This happens every 800,000 years.
We don't know for a fact that Pluto possesses ammonia as none was detected but it is a fairly safe guess to say it does since we have seen ammonia on four of the moons orbiting Pluto. Currently Pluto is in an intermediate mild climate condition with it's pole orientation at 120 degrees but 800 thousand years ago Pluto's atmosphere and temperature were such that nitrogen could reach it's triple point.
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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 2.8 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. |
If Pluto has ammonia (very likely) below the surface and chunks of Pluto were hurled into orbit as the result of nitrogen reaching its triple point, this could explain how Pluto's small moons came to exist recently with ammonia.
800 thousand years ago or less Pluto's surface may have been liquefying freezing gassing and under the right circumstances exploding chunks off the surface. We call these chunks Styx, Nix, Kerberos and/or Hydra. The 2.8 Myr Milankovitch cycle could have occurred as much as 7 times and still fit in our 20 million year window. While multi mile wide chunks may not get launched off Pluto every 2.8 Myr during some of these events conditions may have been just right to create some of these moons or at least shower them with small debris like a red tholin covered object impacting Nix.
This triple point scenario opens up several speculative possibilities.
I'll have to think about how triple point might fit into the overall picture.
I've been scouring Pluto looking for anything I could call evidence of this effect and so far nada but then again I don't know what I'm looking for or how well the geology would cover up evidence of an event like this.
Recently I combined the two images below to demonstrate how Sputnik Planitia reminds me of a volcano's caldera. Once I did this something started nagging me about a theory I developed and have believed for more than a year. As difficult as it is to let go of this one, I'm beginning to doubt its strength. I guess this is the power of comparing what we know and experience with what we don't.
800 thousand years ago or less Pluto's surface may have been liquefying freezing gassing and under the right circumstances exploding chunks off the surface. We call these chunks Styx, Nix, Kerberos and/or Hydra. The 2.8 Myr Milankovitch cycle could have occurred as much as 7 times and still fit in our 20 million year window. While multi mile wide chunks may not get launched off Pluto every 2.8 Myr during some of these events conditions may have been just right to create some of these moons or at least shower them with small debris like a red tholin covered object impacting Nix.
This triple point scenario opens up several speculative possibilities.
- What if, during one of these triple point events a particularly violent explosion occurred at Sputnik Planitia due to its gravitational alignment with Charon? Perhaps the Milankovitch cycle created SP, when Pluto begins to torque and twist which would cause the gravitational bulge created by Charon to shift.
- What if, these Milankovitch cycles cause subsurface gasses like ammonia hydrates to spew out into space spraying onto the moons? This would allow the moons to be old yet covered with ammonia.
- What if, the angular shards on the southern hemisphere of Charon are Pluto chunks spit out by the triple point process? While this may be a partial possibility, the chunks on Charon seem to have fallen there while the surface was still partially in a viscous thick fluid state. The timing of shards partially covered in a hardening taffy seems like the smooth surface and angular shards falling onto the surface were part of the same Charon event not Pluto spitting out chunks.
I'll have to think about how triple point might fit into the overall picture.
I've been scouring Pluto looking for anything I could call evidence of this effect and so far nada but then again I don't know what I'm looking for or how well the geology would cover up evidence of an event like this.
Recently I combined the two images below to demonstrate how Sputnik Planitia reminds me of a volcano's caldera. Once I did this something started nagging me about a theory I developed and have believed for more than a year. As difficult as it is to let go of this one, I'm beginning to doubt its strength. I guess this is the power of comparing what we know and experience with what we don't.
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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. |
This naturally leads to the idea that the larger northern section of SP is then deep, whereas, the area that is stagnant or without convection cells is not as hot hence its not roiling.
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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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Hope I didn't mislead too many people with that theory as it now doesn't seem to me to be as strong a theory as I once thought. I'm still trying to figure this out and mistakes are part of the process.
The two mile high icebergs called Norgay Montes appeared to align with this deep pit theory and infer the subsurface is deep at this location but returning to the area and examining it closer makes me wonder about that too.
The two mile high icebergs called Norgay Montes appeared to align with this deep pit theory and infer the subsurface is deep at this location but returning to the area and examining it closer makes me wonder about that too.
Previously I saw Norgay Montes' icebergs as floating in an ocean of nitrogen but as I study this area more closely it appears as though these iceberg like peaks protrude up and out of the tholin covered land ice as well.
There could be and likely is a fluid under the tholin covered land ice but seeing these land icebergs along with the nitrogen ocean icebergs clustered in the same area makes me wonder a little more about what's going on here.
There could be and likely is a fluid under the tholin covered land ice but seeing these land icebergs along with the nitrogen ocean icebergs clustered in the same area makes me wonder a little more about what's going on here.
This whole scene is looking a little different to me now.
The tsunami looking fluid which I once saw as crawling along the surface appears to be more like something sliding under the surface ice which then softens it such that this whole area has little to no impact craters. This land ice appears to be quite thin almost as if its a veneer of ice floating on an ocean of fluid nitrogen. Norgay Montes looks like chunks of that land ice that have been folded cracked crumpled and broken into clustered groups as the under ground fluid pushes into this zone from below.
While this subterranean zone appears deep, it also seems much cooler than the area north where active convection is taking place. It seems that's why these icebergs are so tall while to the north in Sputnik Planitia the bergs height isn't quite as tall.
The tsunami looking fluid which I once saw as crawling along the surface appears to be more like something sliding under the surface ice which then softens it such that this whole area has little to no impact craters. This land ice appears to be quite thin almost as if its a veneer of ice floating on an ocean of fluid nitrogen. Norgay Montes looks like chunks of that land ice that have been folded cracked crumpled and broken into clustered groups as the under ground fluid pushes into this zone from below.
While this subterranean zone appears deep, it also seems much cooler than the area north where active convection is taking place. It seems that's why these icebergs are so tall while to the north in Sputnik Planitia the bergs height isn't quite as tall.
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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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This zone or area marks the boundary between Pluto's southern arctic zone and it's tropic.
I've added some red and yellow text to the right side of this image to show where Norgay Montes is located (roughly) relative to the arctic zone where it is dark and cold for 124 years compared to the tropic zone that always gets some Sun light.
I've added some red and yellow text to the right side of this image to show where Norgay Montes is located (roughly) relative to the arctic zone where it is dark and cold for 124 years compared to the tropic zone that always gets some Sun light.
Norgay Montes sits in the 30s latitude or Pluto's tropical arctic zone. This is probably why it exhibits this strange characteristic trait of soft surface mud with rigid chunks of broken land ice spun up on their ends creating 2 mile high water ice mountains in an area that is flooded from below with fluid nitrogen softening the terrain. To the north in the SP caldera, fluid bubbles up like toothpaste thick nitrogen but it doesn't wrap around the globe as can be seen at Cthulhu Regio indicating Charon's alignment and gravity is a significant factor in creating SP.
Once again I am adjusting my thought process about Pluto.
Each time I do this, I feel I'm getting closer to the truth about this system. Pluto/Charon is an exercise in exploration and discovery for me so mistakes are inevitable.
There are a couple potential methods from which the small moons could have been created.
1. NASA suggests accretion from an impact 4 Gyr ago.
Each time I do this, I feel I'm getting closer to the truth about this system. Pluto/Charon is an exercise in exploration and discovery for me so mistakes are inevitable.
There are a couple potential methods from which the small moons could have been created.
1. NASA suggests accretion from an impact 4 Gyr ago.
- Page 67 explains weaknesses with the crater counting method for age dating the moons
- Nix with a red tholin impact zit suggest it came from Pluto and is somewhat recent
- Non renewable ammonia hydrates indicate the moons are less than 20 million years
- Their erratic spins suggest they are not old
- Their albedos suggest they are younger than their parent bodies as cosmic rays have not darkened them equally
- Their erratic and unstable pole alignment also indicates they are not old
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image by Randy Russell
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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. |
2. Nitrogen on Pluto reaches its triple point because of 24 degree polar wobble every 2.8 Myr.
While this atmospheric triple point scenario, in my mind, is possible its probability is anyone's guess. I'm not putting too much faith in it yet but seeing how nitrogen acts while at its triple point raises an interesting potential scenario and in my mind all scenarios are worth entertaining until they can be reasonably eliminated. The subsurface triple point scenario, however, is nearly a certainty. When subsurface pressures and temperatures force N2 to gasify and or liquefy then ooze, squirt bubble or blast to the surface the vacuum of Pluto's atmosphere would then explosively exacerbate the reaction.
A while back some friends at Zooniverse pointed out these Siberian exploded methane holes to me and suggested this might be a cause of some of the craters on Pluto.
- This creates a surface solid with bubbling gasses trapped between the solid and liquid creating explosive reactions.
- This also turns the nitrogen into liquid not just in a fluid mobile state but actual liquid
- Low atmospheric pressure (vacuum) perihelion and tilt angle causes nitrogen to reach its triple point while subsurface pressures could increase the temperature of N2 without the Milankovitch cycles phenomenon inferring subsurface N2 can exist as a liquid bubbling up gasses at all times because of increased pressures. This could have explosive results.
- If pent up gasses were trapped below the surface of Pluto, P waves could have dislodged chunks at SP if Pluto was hit by shards on the opposite side.
- Charon could have exploded from tidal flex energy or
- Tidal flex energy plus an impact at Mordor
- Angular shards lying semi submerged and frozen onto the southern surface imply the fluid spilled out quickly flowed and cooled at the same time pieces were falling onto the surface in large numbers placing both these events around the same time frame.
While this atmospheric triple point scenario, in my mind, is possible its probability is anyone's guess. I'm not putting too much faith in it yet but seeing how nitrogen acts while at its triple point raises an interesting potential scenario and in my mind all scenarios are worth entertaining until they can be reasonably eliminated. The subsurface triple point scenario, however, is nearly a certainty. When subsurface pressures and temperatures force N2 to gasify and or liquefy then ooze, squirt bubble or blast to the surface the vacuum of Pluto's atmosphere would then explosively exacerbate the reaction.
A while back some friends at Zooniverse pointed out these Siberian exploded methane holes to me and suggested this might be a cause of some of the craters on Pluto.
At that time I knew these holes were created by global warming of the Siberian permafrost which in turn release explosive pockets of methane and I didn't think they related to what we see on Pluto. But while Pluto isn't experiencing human global warming it does experience warming from the Milankovitch cycles.
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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. |
On earth volcanoes create craters with raised peaks in the center with magma flowing out of the main vent and along lower secondary vents as can be seen in these images.
Elliot crater on Pluto is a prominent feature that when looked at closely you can see how the central peak has a central divot covered by white methane snow looking very much like a cryovolcano with white fluids running out of the peak down into the base as if subsurface warmer fluids are spilling out of the mound.
In this image you can actually see white material spilling out of the central mouth running down the sides of the raised volcano through the main and secondary vents.
Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
In this image you can actually see white material spilling out of the central mouth running down the sides of the raised volcano through the main and secondary vents.
Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
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In case you can't see it clearly, I've added some arrows. This is freaking amazing. The runoff spills out of the base area along the south side. It also runs down from the central high peak mouth along the north side creating elongated elliptical waves as it flows onto the north side floor. |
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Images like this make me wonder if some of these craters aren't from subsurface explosions and pressure rather than just by impacts.
This crater below left looks like it has an off center mound with a hole in the middle which has spilled out lots of white fluid onto a mesa or table top structure looking like a slice of bread with chip beef and white gravy. This crater (Bread Slice) and Elliot appear to be actively spewing out material.
This crater below left looks like it has an off center mound with a hole in the middle which has spilled out lots of white fluid onto a mesa or table top structure looking like a slice of bread with chip beef and white gravy. This crater (Bread Slice) and Elliot appear to be actively spewing out material.
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The Spider on Pluto has what appears to be a messy exploded rim with a central cryovolcano which does not appear active.
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Below are several crater's and their sizes. Elliot at 55 miles could have shot a plug into orbit the size of Nix. All but one of these craters have central peaks which could suggest they are mounds built up by subsurface pressures.
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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. |
Viking Terra is shown as an elevated zone
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Elliot and the active Bread Slice crater are positioned on the southern edge of the elevated bulging land area called Viking Terra. They are both in the same area displaying similar features. The land ice at Viking Terra is distended as if it wants to explode.
All I'm trying to point out in these images is how the subsurface pressure appears to be creating uplifted mounds or cryovolcanoes spitting out material, in other words there are signs of pressure build up and release so explosions of material from triple point pressure every 2.8 Myr is a possibility. Pluto's gravity is twelve times less than Earth's so it would take less energy to eject plugs of ice into orbit. Pluto's weaker gravity would also allow those objects to escape completely or coalesce into orbital zones.
The escape velocity for Pluto is 1.2 km/s which is 0.7456454 mi/s or 2,684 miles per hour. Charon's escape velocity is 0.59 km/s or 0.366609 mi/s or 1,320 mi/hr. Pluto takes 90,613.305 Earth days to orbit the Sun and does so at an average speed of 4.666 km/second or 2.899318 mi/s or 10,438 mi/hr. Other Plutino's are all traveling at 10,438 mi/hr and if a collision took place between two of them they could easily generate enough energy to eject material off Pluto or Charon at 2,684 or 1,320 mi/hr respectively launching debris into a circular orbit.
If impacts like that which occurred at Burney crater took place while Pluto was at triple point conditions these factors working together could dislodge a massive block of ice at 2,684 mi/hr.
All I'm trying to point out in these images is how the subsurface pressure appears to be creating uplifted mounds or cryovolcanoes spitting out material, in other words there are signs of pressure build up and release so explosions of material from triple point pressure every 2.8 Myr is a possibility. Pluto's gravity is twelve times less than Earth's so it would take less energy to eject plugs of ice into orbit. Pluto's weaker gravity would also allow those objects to escape completely or coalesce into orbital zones.
The escape velocity for Pluto is 1.2 km/s which is 0.7456454 mi/s or 2,684 miles per hour. Charon's escape velocity is 0.59 km/s or 0.366609 mi/s or 1,320 mi/hr. Pluto takes 90,613.305 Earth days to orbit the Sun and does so at an average speed of 4.666 km/second or 2.899318 mi/s or 10,438 mi/hr. Other Plutino's are all traveling at 10,438 mi/hr and if a collision took place between two of them they could easily generate enough energy to eject material off Pluto or Charon at 2,684 or 1,320 mi/hr respectively launching debris into a circular orbit.
If impacts like that which occurred at Burney crater took place while Pluto was at triple point conditions these factors working together could dislodge a massive block of ice at 2,684 mi/hr.
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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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Ammonia distribution on Charon
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Organa crater and other blotches of ammonia splattered across Charon
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Sputnik Planitia is dotted with pits which NASA has referred to as sublimation pits but when dry ice (CO2) on Earth sublimates it doesn't develop pits, it simply evaporates away evenly across its entire surface.
There's no reason to think N2 develops pits as it evaporates.
But nitrogen does bubble and boil and explode when it reaches triple point conditions. These pits are the likely result of ejected bubbles of triple point nitrogen remnants from 800 thousand years ago when Pluto's atmospheric conditions pushed N2 to its triple point state.
