Recent images from NASA’s New Horizons mission disclose an area of Pluto's surface which is marked by hundreds of potholes. The pockmarked terrain is yet another example of Pluto’s extraordinary geological diversity.

The holes that are scattered look like footsteps in the snow or as if a log infested by woodworms. Some of the holes measure about 1,000 feet broad and a few hundred feet deep. The nearby surface is composed of nitrogen ice and additional solids, and scientists say the depressions are caused by sublimation of these elements.

Sublimation is a phenomenon in which solid change to gas. As the dwarf planet has little gravitational and atmospheric pressure, so when its ices are heated they usually miss out the liquid phase and directly vaporize.

Researchers can’t say anything about why these depressions occur on Pluto and not elsewhere.

New Horizons project scientist, Hal Weaver, said in a press release. “The pits, and the way they're aligned, provide clues about the ice flow and the exchange of volatiles between the surface and atmosphere, and the science team is working hard to understand what physical processes are at play here”.

The new information adds to Pluto's status is one of the most different surfaces in the solar system.

Researchers wrote in a paper shortening this summer's New Horizons findings that the dwarf planet consists of wide variety of geological landforms which includes those made from surface atmosphere interactions and mass-wasting processes.