Cryovolcanism on Ceres

O Ruesch¹, T Platz², P Schenk³, L A McFadden⁴, J C Castillo-Rogez⁵, L C Quick⁶, S Byrne⁷, F Preusker⁸, D P O'Brien⁶, N Schmedemann⁹, D A Williams¹⁰, J-Y Li⁶, M T Bland¹¹, H Hiesinger¹², T Kneissl⁹, A Neesemann⁹, M Schaefer², J H Pasckert¹², B E Schmidt¹³, D L Buczkowski¹⁴, M V Sykes⁶, A Nathues², T Roatsch⁸, M Hoffmann², C A Raymond⁵, C T Russell¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Greenbelt, MD, USA. ottaviano.ruesch@nasa.gov.
² Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany.
³ Lunar and Planetary Science Institute, Houston, TX, USA.
⁴ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁵ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁶ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁷ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁸ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Geosciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
¹¹ U.S. Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
¹² Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany.
¹³ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁴ Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 27701087
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4286

Cryovolcanism on Ceres

O Ruesch et al. Science. 2016.

. 2016 Sep 2;353(6303):aaf4286.

doi: 10.1126/science.aaf4286. Epub 2016 Sep 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Greenbelt, MD, USA. ottaviano.ruesch@nasa.gov.
² Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany.
³ Lunar and Planetary Science Institute, Houston, TX, USA.
⁴ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁵ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
⁶ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁷ Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁸ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Geosciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
¹¹ U.S. Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
¹² Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany.
¹³ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁴ Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 27701087
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf4286

Abstract

Volcanic edifices are abundant on rocky bodies of the inner solar system. In the cold outer solar system, volcanism can occur on solid bodies with a water-ice shell, but derived cryovolcanic constructs have proved elusive. We report the discovery, using Dawn Framing Camera images, of a landform on dwarf planet Ceres that we argue represents a viscous cryovolcanic dome. Parent material of the cryomagma is a mixture of secondary minerals, including salts and water ice. Absolute model ages from impact craters reveal that extrusion of the dome has occurred recently. Ceres' evolution must have been able to sustain recent interior activity and associated surface expressions. We propose salts with low eutectic temperatures and thermal conductivities as key drivers for Ceres' long-term internal evolution.

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Cryovolcanism on Ceres

Affiliations

Cryovolcanism on Ceres

Authors

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Abstract

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