Date of Graduation

5-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Space & Planetary Sciences (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Space & Planetary Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Chevrier, Vincent F.

Committee Member

Roe, Larry A.

Second Committee Member

Wang, Feng

Third Committee Member

Lehmer, Bret D.

Keywords

Cryogeology; Near-infrared spectroscopy; Planetary Science; Pluto; Solar system

Abstract

New Horizons at Pluto has given the planetary science community the first images of Pluto’s surface, including geologic wonders and compositional variability. Methane, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide make up the bulk of the volatile plutonian surface along with water ice. In this work, these three main volatiles are specifically investigated in the laboratory setting to understand the spectral properties and behavior of binary and ternary mixtures. The spectra are taken in the near-infrared wavelengths (1 – 2.5 µm) using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy techniques utilizing the Pluto Simulation Chamber housed at the University of Arkansas, which can reach conditions relevant to Pluto (10 – 50 K; 14- 25 µbar). Here updated investigations of the methane-nitrogen and nitrogen-carbon monoxide binary systems are developed, along with the creation of an entirely new methane-carbon monoxide binary phase diagram. The second part of this dissertation is the study of certain geophysical processes. This includes compressional folds at the Baret Montes glacier, collapsing from putative cryovolcanism at Hekla Cavus, and fault construction in the southwestern close-encounter hemisphere of Pluto. Both the experimental spectroscopy and theoretical geology expand the knowledge of Pluto and other icy bodies of the outer solar system and could perhaps expand our knowledge of the interactions of different combinations of ices at low temperatures to understand surface evolution or surface-atmosphere relations.

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