Oz Terra Explained

Oz Terra
Type:	Region
Location:	Charon
Discoverer:	New Horizons
Naming:	Unofficial
Eponym:	Land of Oz

Oz Terra is the unofficial name given to a major geological region on Charon. The Pluto-facing hemisphere of Charon is divided onto two primary regions; Oz Terra in the north and Vulcan Planitia in the south. These regions are separated by a series of scarps near Charon's equator, particularly Serenity Chasma and Mandjet Chasma.^[1] The region was discovered by New Horizons during its flyby of Pluto in July 2015.

Geology

Oz Terra sits about a kilometer higher than Vulcan Planitia, and is typified by large crustal blocks, having fractured early in Charon's history.^[2] The region was formed about 4 billion years ago, when a subsurface ocean of water and ammonia flowed to the surface, and then solidified.^[3]

See also

• List of geological features on Charon

Notes and References

1. Beyer . Ross A. . Spencer . John R. . McKinnon . William B. . Nimmo . Francis . Beddingfield . Chloe . Grundy . W.M. . Ennico . K. . Tuttle Keane . James . Moore . Jeffrey M. . Olkin . C.B. . Robbins . Stuart . Runyon . Kirby . Schenk . Paul . Singer . Kelsi . Stern . S. Alan . Weaver . H.A. . Young . L.A. . The nature and origin of Charon's smooth plains . Icarus . May 2019 . 323 . 16–32 . 10.1016/j.icarus.2018.12.036 . 2019Icar..323...16B . 3. free .
2. Robbins . Stuart J. . Beyer . Ross A. . Spencer . John R. . Grundy . William M. . White . Oliver L. . Singer . Kelsi N. . Moore . Jeffrey M. . Dalle Ore . Cristina M. . McKinnon . William B. . Lisse . Carey M. . Runyon . Kirby . Beddingfield . Chloe B. . Schenk . Paul . Umurhan . Orkan M. . Cruikshank . Dale P. . Lauer . Tod R. . Bray . Veronica J. . Binzel . Richard P. . Buie . Marc W. . Buratti . Bonnie J. . Cheng . Andrew F. . Linscott . Ivan R. . Reuter . Dennis C. . Showalter . Mark R. . Young . Leslie A. . Olkin . Catherine B. . Ennico . Kimberly S. . Weaver . Harold A. . Stern . S. Alan . Geologic Landforms and Chronostratigraphic History of Charon as Revealed by a Hemispheric Geologic Map . Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets . January 2019 . 124 . 1 . 155–174 . 10.1029/2018JE005684 . 2019JGRE..124..155R . 3 . free .
3. Web site: O’Hanlon . Larry . New map reveals geology and history of Pluto's moon Charon . GeoSpace . American Geophysical Union . 26 February 2019.