Data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has provided the first evidence that liquid nitrogen may have recently flowed across Pluto's surface, offering new insights into the dwarf planet's geological activity.
A study led by researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) analysed images captured by New Horizons during its historic 2015 flyby of Pluto. Scientists identified dark, narrow lines and patches near the northern edge of Sputnik Planitia, a vast, heart-shaped basin covered by frozen nitrogen.
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Researchers said the markings resemble wet features observed on glaciers on Earth. A study published in The Planetary Science Journal suggests that liquid nitrogen could occasionally reach Pluto's surface through cracks in the frozen ice.
Unlike Earth, Pluto cannot receive liquid nitrogen as rainfall because of its extremely cold atmospheric conditions. Instead, computer models indicate that intense pressure beneath Pluto's multi-kilometre-deep ice sheet could cause nitrogen at the base to melt. The liquid may then be pushed upwards through narrow channels by buoyancy and pressure.
Once the liquid nitrogen reaches the surface, it spreads across the frozen nitrogen ice, temporarily creating wet areas before refreezing. Scientists believe this process produces the distinctive dark lines and patches observed around the edges of Sputnik Planitia's geological convection cells.
Researchers compared the New Horizons images with Landsat 9 observations of Greenland's ice sheet, where meltwater produces similarly dark, wetted paths across ice and snow. The comparison helped strengthen the interpretation that the markings on Pluto may be associated with liquid movement.
Alan Stern, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission and lead author of the study, said the findings indicate a recent arrival of liquid on Pluto's surface and suggest the dwarf planet may host previously unknown, time-variable geological features.
Sputnik Planitia, one of Pluto's most prominent geological regions, is a frozen nitrogen glacier larger in area than the US states of Texas and Oklahoma combined.
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The findings suggest that Pluto is not a completely frozen and static world but remains geologically dynamic, with processes capable of altering its surface over time. The study was published on July 31 in The Planetary Science Journal.
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