Ceres Geology Options

[remcook]

Paper out tomorrow: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25849871
Very exciting that we will visit this world soon!

[Habukaz]

Some Dawn scientists think that the dome in the centre of Occator is a cryovolcanic feature about 4 million years old (Occator itself is stated as being 34 million years old), and that at this point, it cannot be ruled out that cryovolcanic activity is still present at a lower level. The haze interpretation is also doubled down on, and it is mentioned that it could be possible evidence for ongoing activity.

"The age and appearance of the material surrounding the bright dome indicate that Cerealia Facula was formed by a recurring, eruptive process, which also hurled material into more outward regions of the central pit”, says Nathues. "A single eruptive event is rather unlikely," he adds. A look into the Jupiter system supports this theory. The moons Callisto and Ganymede show similar domes. Researchers interpret them as volcanic deposits and thus as signs of cryovolcanism.

The MPS scientists assume that a similar process is active on Ceres. "The large impact that tore the giant Occator crater into the surface of the dwarf planet must have originally started everything and triggered the later cryovolcanic activity," says Nathues. Following the disruption of the impact, the brine researchers suspect either as a complete layer or as scattered patches under the rocky mantel was able to move closer to the surface. The lower pressure allowed water and dissolved gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, to escape forming a system of vents. At the surface, fractures appeared through which the saturated solution erupted from the depth. The deposited salts gradually formed the present dome.

http://www.mps.mpg.de/Cryovolcanism-on-Dwarf-Planet-Ceres