Image of the south pole of Triton taken by Voyager 2 in 1989. The dark spots are signs of cryovolcanic plumes.

Cryovolcanism is the formation of icy volcanoes in extremely low temperature environments. Rather than molten rock, these volcanoes erupt volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane compounds. Collectively referred to as cryomagma, these substances are usually liquids and form flumes, but can also be in vapour form. After eruption cryomagma condenses to a solid form when exposed to the very low surrounding temperature. South Pole of Triton © Calvin J. Hamilton South Pole of Triton - Original page at SolarViews. ... South Pole of Triton © Calvin J. Hamilton South Pole of Triton - Original page at SolarViews. ... Triton (trye-tun, Greek Τρίτων) is the planet Neptunes largest moon, discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the planet itself was discovered. ... The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched in 1977. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the Earths interior made molten or liquid by extremely high temperatures along with a reduction in pressure and/or the introduction of water or other volatiles) erupts through the surface of the planet. ... Look up Lava, ‘A‘a, or Pāhoehoe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Lava is molten rock that a volcano expels during an eruption. ... // Headline text Bold textBold textBold text:This article focuses on water as it is experienced in everyday life. ... Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. ... The simplest hydrocarbon, methane, is a gas with a chemical formula of CH4. ... A liquid will assume the shape of its container. ... The flume - is a waterwork with opened water-table, that leads water from diversion weir completely asside a natural flow. ... Vapor (US English) or vapour (British English) is the gaseous state of matter. ...

Cryovolcanism is not known to exist on Earth. Ice volcanoes were first observed on Neptune's moon Triton during the Voyager 2 flyby. Indirect evidence of cryovolcanic activity has since been observed on several other icy moons of our solar system, including Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus. The Cassini-Huygens mission has found a methane-spewing cryovolcano on Titan, and such volcanism is now believed to be a significant source of the methane found in Titan's atmosphere; methane oceans were hypothesized earlier, but these now appear to be virtually absent. It has also been hypothesised that the Kuiper belt object Quaoar exhibited cryovolcanism in the past. Atmospheric characteristics Surface pressure ≫100 MPa Hydrogen - H2 80% ±3. ... Triton (trye-tun, Greek Τρίτων) is the planet Neptunes largest moon, discovered by William Lassell on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after the planet itself was discovered. ... The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched in 1977. ... Icy moons are believed to be a common class of planetoids that have a surface mostly of ice, possibly with an ocean under the ice, and possibly including a rocky core of silicate or metallic rocks. ... Presentation of the solar system (not to scale) The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 1 µPa Oxygen 100% Europa (ew-roe-pa, /juro:pa/   listen[?], Greek Ευρώπη) is a moon of the planet Jupiter, smallest of the four Galilean moons. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure trace Oxygen 100% Ganymede (IPA: , gan-i-meed, Greek Γανυμήδης) is Jupiters largest moon, and indeed the largest moon in the entire solar system; it is larger in diameter than Mercury but only about half its mass. ... [4]; [5] Atmospheric characteristics Pressure trace, signficant spatial variability [6] Water Vapor 65% [7] Hydrogen 20% [8] Other CO2, CO, N2 [9] Enceladus (en-sel-a-dus, Greek Εγκέλαδος) is a moon of Saturn discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. ... This is an artists concept of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. ... Titan (tye-tun, Greek Τιτάνας) is the largest moon of Saturn and the second largest moon in the solar system[1], after Jupiters moon Ganymede. ... A hypothesis (assumption in ancient Greek) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. ... Artists rendering of the Kuiper Belt and more distant Oort cloud. ... Artists impression by G. Bacon of STScI / NASA 50000 Quaoar (pronounced kwah·war, kwah·wor, or kwow·ur, Tongva ) [1] is a Trans-Neptunian object orbiting the Sun in the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. ...

See also

• Volcano
• Icy moon

A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the Earths interior made molten or liquid by extremely high temperatures along with a reduction in pressure and/or the introduction of water or other volatiles) erupts through the surface of the planet. ... Icy moons are believed to be a common class of planetoids that have a surface mostly of ice, possibly with an ocean under the ice, and possibly including a rocky core of silicate or metallic rocks. ...

External links

• Triton - Triton at the Nine Planets
• South Pole of Triton - Triton at SolarViews.com