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Science 22 March 1991:
Vol. 251. no. 5000, pp. 1465 - 1467
DOI: 10.1126/science.251.5000.1465
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Articles

Triton's Global Heat Budget

R. H. BROWN 1, T. V. JOHNSON 1, J. D. GOGUEN 1, G. SCHUBERT 2, and M. N. ROSS 3

1 Mail Stop 183-501, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109
2 Earth and Space Sciences Department, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024
3 Space Sciences Laboratory, Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009

Internal heat flow from radioactive decay in Triton's interior along with absorbed thermal energy from Neptune total 5 to 20 percent of the insolation absorbed by Triton, thus comprising a significant fraction of Triton's surface energy balance. These additional energy inputs can raise Triton's surface temperature between sim0.5 and 1.5 K above that possible with absorbed sunlight alone, resulting in an increase of about a factor of sim1.5 to 2.5 in Triton's basal atmospheric pressure. If Triton's internal heat flow is concentrated in some areas, as is likely, local effects such as enhanced sublimation with subsequent modification of albedo could be quite large. Furthermore, indications of recent global albedo change on Triton suggest that Triton's surface temperature and pressure may not now be in steady state, further suggesting that atmospheric pressure on Triton was as much as ten times higher in the recent past.

Submitted on November 13, 1990
Accepted on January 30, 1991


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Phase Composition of Triton's Polar Caps.
N. S. Duxbury, N. S. Duxbury, and R. H. Brown (1993)
Science 261, 748-751
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Effect of Surface Roughness on Triton's Volatile Distribution.
R. V. Yelle and R. V. YELLE (1992)
Science 255, 1553-1555
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)