  The New Horizons mission to the Kuiper Belt has recently revealed intriguing
features on the surface of Charon, including a network of chasmata, cutting
across or around a series of high topography features, conjoining to form a
belt. It is proposed that this tectonic belt is a consequence of
contraction/expansion episodes in the moon's evolution associated particularly
with compaction, differentiation and geochemical reactions of the interior. The
proposed scenario involves no need for solidification of a vast subsurface
ocean and/or a warm initial state. This scenario is based on a new, detailed
thermo-physical evolution model of Charon that includes multiple processes.
According to the model, Charon experiences two contraction/expansion episodes
in its history that may provide the proper environment for the formation of the
tectonic belt. This outcome remains qualitatively the same, for several
different initial conditions and parameter variations. The precise orientation
of Charon's tectonic belt, and the cryovolcanic features observed south of the
tectonic belt may have involved a planetary-scale impact, that occurred only
after the belt had already formed.
