A new study reveals some fascinating insights into an ice volcano on the dwarf planet Ceres.
A new study reveals some fascinating insights into an ice volcano on the dwarf planet Ceres.
The volcano Ahuna Mons is about 13,000 feet tall and 11 miles wide which is particularly impressive given that Ceres is “less than 600 miles wide.”
As an Arizona State University news release reports, the mountain is considered to be the result of cryovolcanism where the “volcanic dome [was] built from repeated eruptions of freezing salty water.”
The mountain is also estimated to be relatively young.
David Williams, one of the paper’s authors, explains that it only has “a few craters on its surface, which points to an age of just couple hundred million years at most.”
As the release states, “the implications of Ahuna Mons being volcanic in origin are enormous.”
While the dwarf planet’s surface temperatures are considerably below freezing on average, “its interior has kept warm enough for liquid water or brines to exist for a relatively long period [which]...has allowed volcanic activity...”
Researchers plan to continue studying the area “to better understand the interior structure of Ceres.”
