Origins of pits and troughs and degradation on a small primitive planetesimal in the Kuiper Belt: high-resolution topography of (486958) Arrokoth (aka 2014 MU69) from New Horizons

Abstract

The dominant topographic features on two-lobed Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth (provisionally designated 2014 MU69) are scattered, small, circular depressions or pits up to ~1.0 km across and curvilinear troughs observed near the terminator during the New Horizons encounter of 01 January 2019. With important exceptions, evidence for an endogenic origin for pits is lacking and impact remains the most likely origin. Pit depths relative to the local surface are shallower than hypervelocity simple craters on icy moons and consistent with low velocity (~300 m/s) impacts in an icy target (the role of porosity and cohesion in cratering on Arrokoth being uncertain). There is, however, a large scatter in observed d/D, with some pits too shallow to measure reliably. The range of preservation states observed for both pits and troughs is consistent with slow but persistent degradation on the surface of this (and perhaps other) small primitive planetesimal(s) in the Kuiper Belt by agents such as micrometeorite bombardment or volatile loss, indicating that degradation does indeed occur on such bodies. Arrokoth pits could also be related to circular depressions on comet 9P/Tempel (though comparisons of surface features on Arrokoth and comets are intriguing they are limited by resolution differences and the evolved state of cometary surfaces). Two of the curvilinear troughs occur along the terminator of the Large Lobe. One trough is a shallow depression devoid of resolvable structures, the other features several linear scarps a few 10s of meters high, suggesting that coherent failure can occur on the surfaces of small Kuiper Belt objects such as Arrokoth. Several of the deepest small pits are also clustered within this walled trough, similar to tectonically associated pit chains on other planets. These pits and an obliquely viewed linear chain of elongate depressions remain the best candidates for endogenic features on Arrokoth. Subtle undulations and linear features no more than a few 10's of meters in amplitude (and even a few candidate positive relief features) are also evident in the terminator regions, indicating that the long-term evolution of this body may have been complex.