Evidence of Liquid Nitrogen Upwelling Found on Pluto's Sputnik Planitia

• Planetary scientists have identified evidence that liquid nitrogen is rising through cracks in the glaciers of Pluto’s northern Sputnik Planitia.
• Data from the 2015 New Horizons flyby reveal dark surface features similar to meltwater patterns seen on Earth's glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland.
• The phenomenon suggests a form of cryovolcanism, where subsurface heat melts nitrogen ice, which then flows to the surface.

Scientific Analysis

• A team led by Alan Stern at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) compared New Horizons imagery to Landsat satellite data of Earth’s icy regions.
• Sputnik Planitia is covered in convection cells of nitrogen ice, with darker, "wetter" lines at their boundaries indicating localized liquid outflows.
• Since nitrogen rain is impossible under Pluto's current atmospheric conditions, the liquid must originate from deep beneath the surface.

Mechanisms and Implications

• Researchers suggest the melting is likely driven by pressure-induced heating from thick glaciers or potential geothermal heat from the planet's core.
• Kelsi Singer of SwRI notes the region is geologically young, likely less than one million years old, indicating the process is a relatively recent activity.
• These findings provide a new model for icy worlds in the outer solar system, such as Neptune's moon Triton or the dwarf planet Eris.
• Computer models by the SETI Institute confirmed the physical feasibility of nitrogen melting at the base of Pluto's glaciers under high stress and strain.