Triton's atmosphere |
Triton's atmosphere |
Apr 14 2010, 11:13 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
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Apr 23 2010, 06:09 PM
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10157 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
"the basic idea was that some sunlight could be getting through the top layer of ice, and warming the nitrogen beneath it. Phil, do you remember this one?"
Yes, Rob - it was called a solid-state greenhouse, I think, though that term has been used for other places like Europa as well. I agree with John that it's premature to call Triton geologically active, though it's clearly been active in the not too distant past. It looks quite a bit older than Europa, but not as old as Ganymede (recognizing the limitations of our imaging coverage). But it's quite active in an atmosphere-surface-solar heating sense - there of course it's far ahead of Europa. Winds, plumes, frosts etc. Truly a fascinating place. Gotta go back! Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke Maps for download (free PD: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Cartography.pdf NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Apr 23 2010, 06:26 PM
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
I agree with John that it's premature to call Triton geologically active Phil Well, it does strain the category. It can definitely be said that it is premature to say that it has endogenically driven geologic activity. However, plumes shooting up out of the ground, even if exogenically powered, doesn't really fit into the category that we normally think of when we think of atmospheric activity either. To put it another way, Triton definitely seems to have some active geologic processes, but these processes may be exogenically powered. The best analog might be a comet. -------------------- |
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