Cryovolcanism on Pluto and Comparison to Features across the Solar System

Pluto's surface has experienced considerable endogenic and exogenic resurfacing (Moore et al., 2016). The terrains on Pluto represent a variety of ages, from seemingly ancient to surprisingly young. Some of the very young terrains are the result of the volatile ices on Pluto's surface (e.g., the convecting nitrogen-ice-rich plains of Sputnik Planitia). But Pluto also has several examples of more recent activity (terrains with few-to-no superimposed craters), that appear to be primarily made out of non-volatile water ice. The most prominent examples of potential cryovolcanism are two enormous domes with deep central depressions (Singer et al., 2016). The informally named Wright Mons stands 4 km high and the main mound spans 150 km. The informally named Piccard Mons is approximately 7 km high and 225 km wide. Only a few potential distinct flow features are evident, but the morphology of the areas surrounding Wright and Piccard indicates there may have been multiple episodes of terrain emplacement. There is also an extensive plateau to the west of Wright Mons with a relatively flat surface. This plateau exhibits many large depressions with various morphologies, most of which do not appear to have an impact origin. Each potential example of cryovolcanism found in the outer solar system is unique, and Pluto and Charon's features expand the information we have to understand this enigmatic process. We will present image, topographic, and composition data for these feature along with geologic mapping results. We will discuss potential formation mechanisms in light of available empirical and model constraints.Please note some geologic features names used here are informal. References: Moore, J.M. et al. (2016) The geology of Pluto and Charon through the eyes of New Horizons. Science 351, 1284-1293. doi:10.1126/science.aad7055; Singer, K.N. et al. (2016) Pluto's Putative Cryovolcanic Constructs. Planetary Mappers Meeting. 1920, #7017, http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016LPICo1920.7017S.