The assumption that on Pluto there is the ocean is not new, but previously, scientists believed that it is completely frozen.
For small cosmic bodies, which even stripped of planet status, Pluto brings too many surprises.
The most startling discovery for scientists was the fact that it is geologically active. And now scientists have found a more sensational explanation of this activity: they assume that on Pluto there is water in the liquid state.
The article with such an interesting hypothesis was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
“Our model shows that recent geological activity on Pluto could occur due to phase changes of ice. With this explanation have no tides, no exotic materials, no more unexplored of our processes,” says lead researcher Noah Hammond.
The assumption that on Pluto there is the ocean is not new, but previously, scientists believed that it is completely frozen. According to the new study shows evidence that water in liquid state exists on Pluto right now.
The lack of longitudinal tectonic features — which would have formed if the internal water layers were frozen, turned into a dense form of ice known as ice II, suggests that Pluto is quite possibly not completely solid.
If the model of team Hammond is correct, then we can assume that the underground oceans — it is quite a common property of blocks of stone so common in the Kuiper belt.
Can the oceans support life, yet we can not say, but even the very possibility gives you even more reasons to send that way more space probes.
