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Pluto has dune-like ridges near Sputnik Planitia, and a 2018 study found that wind-blown methane-ice grains best explain their spacing. The interpretation is persuasive, not confirmed by sampling: the patterns may also reflect erosion by sublimation, or both processes working together.
Where are Pluto’s dunes?
The ridges lie near mountains along the western edge of Sputnik Planitia, Pluto’s broad, bright plain. NASA describes dune fields extending for at least 75 kilometers along that edge. New Horizons captured the imagery during its 2015 flyby, making it possible to identify the repeating patterns.
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The nearby mountains are made largely of water ice and have been proposed as source terrain for material in the area. That does not mean the dunes themselves are inferred to be water ice: the proposed dune grains are methane ice.
Are the ridges really dunes made of methane?
“Dunes” is the leading interpretation of the shapes, not a direct identification of sampled grains. The 2018 study, published in Science, concluded that the ridges’ wavelength is best explained by methane-ice particles about 200–300 micrometers across. No spacecraft has collected or analyzed grains from the formations.
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The ridges have a reported wavelength of approximately 0.4–1 kilometer. In this context, wavelength means the distance between repeating ridge features; it is not the height or width of an individual dune. Matching that spacing to a particle-and-wind scenario supports the dune explanation, but does not prove it.
How could wind move grains in Pluto’s thin atmosphere?
Pluto’s atmosphere is thin, so the proposed mechanism is not ordinary Earth-like wind carrying familiar beach sand. The study’s model explains the observed spacing with methane-ice grains and moderate winds below 10 meters per second. Sublimation—the transition of surface ice directly into gas—may help lift or dislodge particles so winds can transport them.
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NASA’s 2020 overview describes winds of no more than 20 miles per hour and notes that winds may have been stronger in the past when Pluto’s atmosphere was thicker. That overview and the study’s modeled estimate are different descriptions; neither should be treated as a direct measurement of wind at the dunes.
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Could sublimation alone make the patterns?
It remains possible that sublimation erosion created the repeating patterns, or that erosion and particle movement both contributed. Jeffery Moore, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and an author of the study, said the features “certainly resemble dunes,” while cautioning that they “might also be sublimation erosion patterns, or due to a combination of particle movement and sublimation erosion.”
NASA characterized the formations as young in geological terms, on the scale of decades or centuries. This is a broad estimate, not a precise age measurement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the evidence establishes
- Observed: New Horizons imagery shows repeating ridges near Sputnik Planitia.
- Best-supported interpretation: Their spacing fits a model involving methane-ice particles and wind transport, with sublimation potentially helping mobilize grains.
- Still uncertain: The grains have not been sampled, and sublimation erosion may explain some or all of the pattern.
Sources: NASA Science, “Pluto’s Dunes Are Made of Methane” (2018); the abstract of the 2018 study Dunes on Pluto; and NASA’s Pluto dunes overview (2020).
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