It has been proposed that Ahuna Mons formed as a cryovolcanic dome. It is the closest cryovolcano to the Sun yet discovered. It is roughly antipodal to the largest impact basin on Ceres, diameter Kerwan. Seismic energy from the Kerwan-forming impact may have been focused on the opposite side of Ceres, fracturing the outer layers of the area and facilitating the movement of high viscosity cryovolcanic magma (consisting of muddy water ice softened by its content of salts) that was then extruded onto the surface. Crater counts suggest that formation of the mountain continued into the last several hundred million years, making this a relatively young geological feature.