Deep sea can be found on Pluto

In July 2015, a close-up view of its Pluto and Moon, Charon, will be revealed for the first time. Various theories are being proposed by scientists about what the New Horizons spacecraft will find on this dwarf planet.

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One of the ideas given was that the collision formed Charon that heated the Pluto's surface, enough to give it a sea of ​​liquid water and a system of tectonic plates like the one above. Earth.

Amy Barr, co-author of a new study published in Icarus along with Geoffrey Collins, said: "We anticipate that when New Horizons ships arrive, it will gather evidence of ancient stratigraphy. great " .

Ancient here was identified by Barr about a billion first years of solar system history.

Figure simulating the surface of Pluto.(Source: Discovery)

Barr and Collins modeled the Pluto-Charon system based on the idea that the collision created Charon that created enough heat to melt the Pluto's surface, creating a sea of ​​water that existed. for quite a long time below the icy surface.

"Once the sea water has been formed in icy conditions, it will last long , " Barr said. This is because in the process of freezing water, the remaining liquid is enriched with salt and ammonia - they act as antifreeze.

On the other hand, this sea of ​​water can also create tectonic plates on the surface of Pluto.

"We already know that angular momentum will be preserved during system development," Barr said. With this knowledge, they simulated a series of scenarios based on Charon's orbit right after the collision - because no scientist really understood Charon's formation. Then, in each scenario, they found that this trajectory gradually moved outward - like the Moon's orbit for Earth.

When Pluto and Charon are closer together, and still keep high temperatures after collisions, they attract each other more strongly, making them more flattened. But when Charon went away, Pluto became rounder. But to change the shape, the icy shell will have to crack and create faults - a sign of tectonics.

"In scenarios, they create more pressure than necessary to create many different tectonic characteristics," Barr said.