Dawn will spend the coming months studying its geology and surface chemistry with a suite of cameras and remote-sensing instruments.
Head, river flow, precipitation data, and the geology and surface topography of the region are used to construct the model.
Here we provide a regional re-examination of the PPS, compiling existing work on the underlying geology, sedimentology, surface exposure dating, and seismic profiling.
The landscape has been (on the whole) stable, but the erosion rate varies spatially according to microclimate, geology, and surface composition.
"These five detailed papers completely transform our view of Pluto – revealing the former 'astronomer's planet' to be a real world with diverse and active geology, exotic surface chemistry, a complex atmosphere, puzzling interaction with the sun and an intriguing system of small moons".
In order to model the sub-surface geology of the area, surface and sub-surface geological data have been integrated in a spatial database.
We identify and classify known terrestrial freshwater lenses (TFLs) using four formation categories, namely topography, geology, groundwater-surface water interaction and recharge mechanisms.
Plate tectonics theory, which has dominated geological thinking for the past five decades, seemed to offer explanations for much of the surface geology of our planet, and for the scientific basis that underlies the geology of petroleum and natural gas deposit origination.
"The surface geology preserves the history of the cooling," he said.
Their primary objective will be to investigate surface geology and likely sources of water beneath the surface.
