GEOL 212 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Carbonatite, Arabia Terra, List Of Geological Features On Pluto
26 Dec 2017
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A less athletic analogue to io, but much colder and, therefore, stranger. Triton"s average temperature is 38 k, at which nitrogen (a gas on warmer places like io and titan) freezes as a solid. Triton"s surface is freshly remodeled and has few impact craters. Today, triton"s retrograde orbit is nearly circular, but earlier in its history (after its capture by neptune) it experienced extensive tidal heating. Today it appears to have a residual deep ocean, like many other icy worlds. Geysers are concentrated near the point of maximum solar illumination - i. e. they are driven by sunlight and a solid greenhouse effect: apparently, sunlight passes through a translucent layer of nitrogen ice and warms darker material underneath. This, in turn, causes adjacent nitrogen ice to sublimate (i. e. go from solid to gas) and erupt: we"ve seen this play before at mars" south polar ice cap in spring, where a different actor, co2, causes springtime.
