Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1990 Oct 19;250(4979):410-5.
doi: 10.1126/science.250.4979.410.

Triton's Geyser-Like Plumes: Discovery and Basic Characterization

L A Soderblom, S W Kieffer, T L Becker, R H Brown, A F Cook 2nd, C J Hansen, T V Johnson, R L Kirk, E M Shoemaker

Triton's Geyser-Like Plumes: Discovery and Basic Characterization

L A Soderblom et al. Science. .

Abstract

At least four active geyser-like eruptions were discovered in Voyager 2 images of Triton, Neptune's large satellite. The two best documented eruptions occur as columns of dark material rising to an altitude of about 8 kilometers where dark clouds of material are left suspended to drift downwind over 100 kilometers. The radii of the rising columns appear to be in the range of several tens of meters to a kilometer. One model for the mechanism to drive the plumes involves heating of nitrogen ice in a subsurface greenhouse environment; nitrogen gas pressurized by the solar heating explosively vents to the surface carrying clouds of ice and dark partides into the atmosphere. A temperature increase of less than 4 kelvins above the ambient surface value of 38 +/- 3 kelvins is more than adequate to drive the plumes to an 8-kilometer altitude. The mass flux in the trailing clouds is estimated to consist of up to 10 kilograms of fine dark particles per second or twice as much nitrogen ice and perhaps several hundred or more kilograms of nitrogen gas per second. Each eruption may last a year or more, during which on the order of a tenth of a cubic kilometer of ice is sublimed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

  • Voyager 2 at neptune: imaging science results.
    Smith BA, Soderblom LA, Banfield D, Barnet C, Basilevsky AT, Beebe RF, Bollinger K, Boyce JM, Brahic A, Briggs GA, Brown RH, Chyba C, Collins SA, Colvin T, Cook AF 2nd, Crisp D, Croft SK, Cruikshank D, Cuzzi JN, Danielson GE, Davies ME, De Jong E, Dones L, Godfrey D, Goguen J, Grenier I, Haemmerle VR, Hammel H, Hansen CJ, Helfenstein CP, Howell C, Hunt GE, Ingersoll AP, Johnson TV, Kargel J, Kirk R, Kuehn DI, Limaye S, Masursky H, McEwen A, Morrison D, Owen T, Owen W, Pollack JB, Porco CC, Rages K, Rogers P, Rudy D, Sagan C, Schwartz J, Shoemaker EM, Showalter M, Sicardy B, Simonelli D, Spencer J, Sromovsky LA, Stoker C, Strom RG, Suomi VE, Synott SP, Terrile RJ, Thomas P, Thompson WR, Verbiscer A, Veverka J. Smith BA, et al. Science. 1989 Dec 15;246(4936):1422-49. doi: 10.1126/science.246.4936.1422. Science. 1989. PMID: 17755997
  • The voyager 2 encounter with the neptunian system.
    Stone EC, Miner ED. Stone EC, et al. Science. 1989 Dec 15;246(4936):1417-21. doi: 10.1126/science.246.4936.1417. Science. 1989. PMID: 17755996
  • Energy Sources for Triton's Geyser-Like Plumes.
    Brown RH, Kirk RL, Johnson TV, Soderblom LA. Brown RH, et al. Science. 1990 Oct 19;250(4979):431-5. doi: 10.1126/science.250.4979.431. Science. 1990. PMID: 17793021
  • Scatterers in Triton's Atmosphere: Implications for the Seasonal Volatile Cycle.
    Pollack JB, Schwartz JM, Rages K. Pollack JB, et al. Science. 1990 Oct 19;250(4979):440-3. doi: 10.1126/science.250.4979.440. Science. 1990. PMID: 17793024
  • Triton's Plumes: The Dust Devil Hypothesis.
    Ingersoll AP, Tryka KA. Ingersoll AP, et al. Science. 1990 Oct 19;250(4979):435-7. doi: 10.1126/science.250.4979.435. Science. 1990. PMID: 17793022
See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources