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Pluto's large moon Charon [radius 606 km; density = 1.70 g cm(exp. -3)] exhibits a striking variety of landscapes. Charon can be divided into two broad provinces separated by a roughly aligned assemblage of ridges and canyons, which span from east to west. North of this tectonic belt is rugged, cratered terrain (Oz Terra); south of it are smoother but geologically complex plains (Vulcan Planum). (All place names here are informal.) Relief exceeding 20 km is seen in limb profiles and stereo topography.

Several icy-world surfaces in the solar system exhibit sublimation-driven landform modification erosion, condensation, and mass wasting [1]. In addition to the obvious role of gravity, mass wasting can work in conjunction with internal disaggregation of a landform's relief-supporting material through the loss (or deteriorating alteration) of its cohesive matrix. To give a conspicuous example, Callisto's landscape exhibits widespread erosion from sublimation erosion of slopes, which results in smooth, undulating, low albedo plains composed of lag deposits, with isolated high albedo pinnacles perched on remnants of crater rims due to the re-precipitation of ice on local cold traps [2, 3, 4]. Sublimation-driven mass wasting was anticipated on Pluto prior to the encounter (see refs in [5]). Here we report on several landscapes on Pluto we interpret to be formed, or at least heavily modified, by sublimation erosion.

The New Horizons mission has provided resolved measurements of Pluto's moons Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. All four are small, with equivalent spherical diameters of approx.40 kilometers for Nix and Hydra and approx. 10 kilometers for Styx and Kerberos. They are also highly elongated, with maximum to minimum axis ratios of approx. 2. All four moons have high albedos (approx.50 to 90%) suggestive of a water-ice surface composition. Crater densities on Nix and Hydra imply surface ages of at least 4 billion years. The small moons rotate much faster than synchronous, with rotational poles clustered nearly orthogonal to the common pole directions of Pluto and Charon. These results reinforce the hypothesis that the small moons formed in the aftermath of a collision that produced the Pluto-Charon binary.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has revealed the complex geology of Pluto and Charon. Pluto shows ongoing surface geological activity centered on a vast basin containing a thick layer of volatile ices that is involved in convection and advection, with a crater retention age no greater than 10 Ma. Surrounding terrains show active glacial flow, apparent transport and rotation of large buoyant water-ice crustal blocks, and pitting by sublimation erosion and/or collapse. More enigmatic features include tall mounds with central depressions that are conceivably cryovolcanic, and ridges with complex bladed textures. Pluto also has ancient cratered terrains up to 4 Ga old that are extensionally fractured and extensively mantled and eroded by glacial or other processes. Charon is not currently active, but experienced major extensional tectonism and resurfacing (probably cryovolcanic) nearly 4 billion years ago. Impact crater populations on Pluto and Charon are not consistent with the steepest proposed impactor size-frequency distributions.

Highly sensitive, high‐mass resolution mass spectrometry is an important in situ tool for the study of solar system bodies. In this talk we detail the science objectives, develop the rationale for the measurement requirements, and describe potential instrument/mission methodologies for studying the formation, evolution, and habitability of the Galilean satellites. We emphasize our studies of Ganymede and Europa as described in our instrument proposals for the recently selected JUICE mission and the proposed Europa Clipper mission.

Tectonic features on the satellites of the outer planets range from the familiar, such as clearly recognizable graben on many satellites, to the bizarre, such as the ubiquitous double ridges on Europa, the twisting sets of ridges on Triton, or the isolated giant mountains rising from Io's surface. All of the large and middle-sized outer planet satellites except Io are dominated by water ice near their surfaces. Though ice is a brittle material at the cold temperatures found in the outer solar system, the amount of energy it takes to bring it close to its melting point is lower than for a rocky body. Therefore, some unique features of icy satellite tectonics may be influenced by a near-surface ductile layer beneath the brittle surface material, and several of the icy satellites may possess subsurface oceans. Sources of stress to drive tectonism are commonly dominated by the tides that deform these satellites as they orbit their primary giant planets. On several satellites, the observed tectonic features may be the result of changes in their tidal figures, or motions of their solid surfaces with respect to their tidal figures. Other driving mechanisms for tectonics include volume changes due to ice or water phase changes in the interior, thermoelastic stress, deformation of the surface above rising diapirs of warm ice, and motion of subsurface material toward large impact basins as they fill in and relax. Most satellites exhibit evidence for extensional deformation, and some exhibit strike-slip faulting, whereas contractional tectonism appears to be rare. Io s surface is unique, exhibiting huge isolated mountains that may be blocks of crust tilting and foundering into the rapidly emptying interior as the surface is constantly buried by deposits from hyperactive volcanoes. Of the satellites, diminutive Enceladus is spectacularly active; its south polar terrain is a site of young tectonism, copious heat flow, and tall plumes venting into space. Europa's surface is pervasively tectonized, covered with a diverse array of exotic and incompletely understood tectonic features. The paucity of impact craters on Europa suggests that its tectonic activity is ongoing. Geysers on Triton show that some degree of current activity, while tectonic features that cross sparsely cratered terrain indicate that it may also be tectonically active. Ganymede and Miranda both exhibit ancient terrains that have been pulled apart by normal faulting. On Ganymede these faults form a global network, while they are confined to regional provinces on Miranda. Ariel, Dione, Tethys, Rhea, and Titania all have systems of normal faults cutting across their surfaces, though the rifting is less pronounced than it is on Ganymede and Miranda. Iapetus exhibits a giant equatorial ridge that has defied simple explanation. The rest of the large and middle-sized satellites show very little evidence for tectonic features on their surfaces, though the exploration of Titan's surface has just begun.

Jets of water ice from surface fractures near the south pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus produce a plume of gas and particles. The source of the jets may be a liquid water region under the ice shell-as suggested most recently by the discovery of salts in E-ring particles derived from the plume-or warm ice that is heated, causing dissociation of clathrate hydrates. Here we report that ammonia is present in the plume, along with various organic compounds, deuterium and, very probably, Ar-40. The presence of ammonia provides strong evidence for the existence of at least some liquid water, given that temperatures in excess of 180 K have been measured near the fractures from which the jets emanate. We conclude, from the overall composition of the material, that the plume derives from both a liquid reservoir (or from ice that in recent geological time has been in contact with such a reservoir) as well as from degassing, volatile-charged ice. As part of a general comprehensive review of the midsize saturnian satellites at the conclusion of the prime Cassini mission, PI McKinnon and co-I Barr contributed to three review chapters.

Europa is a rocky object of radius 1565 km (slightly smaller than Earth s moon) and has an outer shell of water composition estimated to be of order 100 km thick, the surface of which is frozen. The total volume of water is about 3 x 10(exp 9) cubic kilometers, or twice the amount of water on Earth. Moreover, like its neighbor Io, Europa experiences internal heating generated from tidal flexing during its eccentric orbit around Jupiter. This raises the possibility that some of the water beneath the icy crust is liquid. The proportion of rock to ice, the generation of internal heat, and the possibility of liquid water make Europa unique in the Solar System. In this chapter, we outline the sources of data available for Europa (with a focus on the Galileo mission), review previous and on-going research on its surface geology, discuss the astrobiological potential of Europa, and consider plans for future exploration.

With the approach of Cassini to the Saturn system, attention naturally focuses on the planet, its rings and Titan, but the Saturn system is also populated by a number of smaller satellites. The seven middle-sized icy satellites, along with those of Uranus, (between 400 and 1500 km wide) are distinctly different geophysically and geologically from their much larger Galilean-class brethren [e.g., 1]. Topographic mapping of these bodies is a critical part of understanding their geologic evolution. Here we describe our recent efforts to map the topography of these satellites using Voyager data.

Ejecta scaling relationships, ballistic sedimentation, and ejecta fragment size distributions are used to give estimates of thicknesses of basin ejecta deposits, proportions of primary ejecta, and secondary crater diameters and surface densities. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Topographic mapping in at least three distinct regions of Ganymede reveals that smooth terrains are flat and are topographically depressed. This and embayment relationships are consistent with volcanic resurfacing. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Voyager-Galileo stereo images of Ganymede reveal that smooth bright terrains are depressed at least 700 m compared to older terrains, and that less deformed terrains are more depressed. These observations are consistent with flooding of bright terrain by low-viscosity lavas.