Colossal landslides on Pluto could bury Earth’s cities, study finds

A team analyzing NASA’s New Horizons data from Pluto’s 2015 flyby identified six landslides along the inner walls of three craters on Sputnik Planitia. Debris flows stretch 10–14.5 km, with the largest apron about 130 sq km—large enough to bury a small city. These features show Pluto is geologically active on long timescales, likely driven by Pluto’s low gravity and icy, low-friction material; triggers vary, from nearby impacts to thermal stresses that cause sublimation and condensation of volatiles. The findings mark Pluto as the first Kuiper Belt world with such landslides confirmed, though coverage limits detection of additional events.