Signs of an extraterrestrial ocean with salt concentration 8% higher than Earth’s oceans have recently been identified by American scientists.
A research team led by Dr. Alex Nguyen from Washington University in St. Louis and Dr. Patrick McGovern from the Lunar and Planetary Institute (USA) has discovered evidence of an ocean resembling a replica of the Dead Sea on the world that was once considered the “ninth planet” of our Solar System.
This intriguing world is Pluto, which was reclassified by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006, while NASA scientists argue that it deserves to be regarded as a planet.
In the new study, American scientists utilized data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.
Deep beneath Sputnik Planitia of the “ninth planet” lies a highly saline ocean – (Image: NASA).
Using mathematical models to analyze high-resolution images from New Horizons of Pluto, researchers sought to explore further the suspected ocean buried beneath the planet’s thick nitrogen and methane crust.
The surface temperature of Pluto is approximately -220 degrees Celsius, cold enough that gases like nitrogen and methane freeze solid, making it difficult for water to exist.
“It should have lost almost all of its heat shortly after its formation, so basic calculations would suggest that it has frozen to its core,” Sci-News quoted Dr. Nguyen.
However, in recent years, scientists have gathered strange evidence suggesting that this celestial body has a subsurface ocean. For instance, it has cold volcanoes erupting ice and vapor.
The models created by Dr. Nguyen and Dr. McGovern focused on Sputnik Planitia, the western lobe of Pluto’s famous heart-shaped ice plain.
This area experienced a colossal impact from a meteorite billions of years ago. By analyzing cracks and bulges in the ice layer, they estimated that an ocean exists beneath 40 to 80 km of water ice.
Due to its great depth, this ocean is inadvertently insulated, preventing it from freezing.
Additionally, another contributing factor to this non-freezing state is salt.
The ocean on Pluto is highly saline, with salt concentration 8% higher than Earth’s oceans.
This concentration is nearly comparable to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA, often described as America’s Dead Sea.
While the ocean on Pluto may not be as salty as the Dead Sea, it is still a fascinating near-replica in a world that many previously believed could not support an ocean.
This salinity will explain the abundance of visible cracks on the surface. If the ocean were significantly less saline, the ice crust would collapse, creating more cracks than what is actually observed. Conversely, if the ocean were much saltier, there would be fewer cracks.
The results, recently published in the journal Icarus, support NASA’s hopes of a world that is “much more advanced” than a mere dwarf planet, with much left to explore.
Some scientists even anticipate a “niche” for extreme life forms in this frigid world.
For the most accurate answers, we may have to wait for future space missions targeting the distant reaches of the Solar System.
