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Postulating here: Is it possible the mountains are a result of gravitational pull of Charon on Pluto's water-ice mantle during pluto's formative years? Or the

by dev1n 11y ago

Postulating here: Is it possible the mountains are a result of gravitational pull of Charon on Pluto's water-ice mantle during pluto's formative years? Or the gravitational affects of Neptune and Pluto's orbital resonance?

Osmium 11y ago
> during pluto's formative years? I believe they're saying that this is not the case since they've seen fewer craters on Pluto than they would have expected, which makes them think these mountains are relatively 'recent' formations (that would have hidden any older craters that were present).
cossatot 11y ago
Keeping in mind that I don't know anything about Charon's orbit or gravitational effects, I think it's possible. It also doesn't have to be early in Pluto's formation, either; it can be a slow, continuous, ongoing process. Salt diapirs on Earth move up through the brittle crust and 'erupt' on the surface.
jheriko 11y ago
how would gravity do this? orbital trajectories are in free fall... tidal effects are all that are left and they are huge, smooth gradients, not tiny highly variable things of the sort that could create surface features like this.
- gizmo686 11y ago
  Tidal forces do serve as an energy source to drive other geological mechanisms, however they stated in the press conference that Charon is to small to do this, so we need to find another mechanism for how Pluto is still active.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Waves on a sea are caused by gravity so it's not a bizarre idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave
nerfhammer 11y ago
The surface appears to be extremely young. There are no craters on these mountains. They're apparently made of ice and are relatively tall. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/science/pluto-flyby-photos-reveal-mountains.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/science/pluto-flyby-photos... "But these mountains are almost certainly made of frozen water instead of rock."

by dev1n 11y ago

Osmium 11y ago

> during pluto's formative years? I believe they're saying that this is not the case since they've seen fewer craters on Pluto than they would have expected, which makes them think these mountains are relatively 'recent' formations (that would have hidden any older craters that were present).

cossatot 11y ago

Keeping in mind that I don't know anything about Charon's orbit or gravitational effects, I think it's possible. It also doesn't have to be early in Pluto's formation, either; it can be a slow, continuous, ongoing process. Salt diapirs on Earth move up through the brittle crust and 'erupt' on the surface.

jheriko 11y ago

how would gravity do this? orbital trajectories are in free fall... tidal effects are all that are left and they are huge, smooth gradients, not tiny highly variable things of the sort that could create surface features like this.

gizmo686 11y ago
Tidal forces do serve as an energy source to drive other geological mechanisms, however they stated in the press conference that Charon is to small to do this, so we need to find another mechanism for how Pluto is still active.
DanBC 11y ago
Waves on a sea are caused by gravity so it's not a bizarre idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_wave

nerfhammer 11y ago

The surface appears to be extremely young. There are no craters on these mountains. They're apparently made of ice and are relatively tall. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/science/pluto-flyby-photos-reveal-mountains.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/16/science/pluto-flyby-photos... "But these mountains are almost certainly made of frozen water instead of rock."