A shear heating origin for ridges on Triton

Triton and Europa each display a variety of distinctive curvilinear ridges and associated troughs. Here we propose that ridges on Triton may have formed by diurnal tidal stresses, in a manner similar to that proposed for ridge formation on Europa. The greater width of ridges on Triton is likely a consequence of the lower surface temperature and greater brittle‐ductile transition depth on this body compared to Europa. The magnitudes of the stresses and heat fluxes required to generate ridges of the correct scale are comparable to likely values generated during the latter part of Triton's orbital evolution from an initial highly eccentric state.