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Geophysics explained the mechanism of formation of polygons on Pluto

Геофизики объяснили механизм образования многоугольников на ПлутонеPolygons located in the Equatorial part of the dwarf planet, filled with nitrogen ice.

Geophysicists from the United States explained the mechanism of formation of irregular polygons on Pluto — sites on the plateau of the Satellite, separated by a network of dark lines, similar to the geometric shapes of the plots.

The study is published in two papers in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Polygons situated on the plateau of the Satellite in the Equatorial part of the dwarf planet, filled with mainly nitrogen ice (as well as methane and carbon monoxide) in diameter and reach 10-40 kilometers. The centers of these plots rise to a few tens of meters above the TV a dark color, separating the shapes from each other.

Geophysics has shown that the most realistic scenario of their formation is thermal compression and convection (by the mechanism of Rayleigh — Benard) in the layer of nitrogen ice, which explains the large width of the channels. The diameter of the polygons suggests that the thickness of formed ice up to ten kilometers. The convection speed is estimated at 1.5 centimeters per year, suggesting that the age of the youngest polygonal formations on Pluto does not exceed half a million years.

To his conclusions geophysicists have analyzed the data of New Horizons and having the corresponding computer simulation. Scientists say that similar processes occur on other objects in the Kuiper belt, and planets and satellites of the Solar system.

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