Mechanism for Pluto's young surface
Prior to the New Horizons flyby, a popular model for Pluto’s surface involved frost migration. Delsanti &amp; Jewitt (2006) explain that at different points during the year, there should be seasonal pressure variations in the atmosphere. This then causes changes in the extent of nitrogen and methane ices on the surface, which over long periods of time - remember, Pluto has a very long period of revolution - alters local geography. The authors also mention cryovolcanism as a potential source for replenishment of methane that is destroyed by cosmic rays.

Trilling (2016) discusses cryovolcanism and two other processes as ways to resurface Pluto and remove craters:


Viscous relaxation. Ices on the surface “flow”, removing certain surface formations.
Convective overturn. Temperature differences in convective cells cause flows similar to those in viscous relaxation.
Cryovolcanism. In addition to releasing methane (and potentially nitrogen), cryovolcanism can heat up parts of the surface, melting ices, which then erode features.


So far, two cryovolcano candidates have been tentatively identified, Piccard Mons and Wright Mons:



Image from Nature; image credit NASA/SWRI/JHUAPL.

The cryovolcanic situation on Pluto may be closer to that of Enceladus than that of Europa. Plumes were observed on Enceladus’s south pole by Cassini, which appear to be cryovolcanic in nature:



False color photograph of Enceladus’s south pole jets. Image in the public domain.

Tidal heating is thought to be a large contributor to the heat necessary to trigger the plumes. However, this is likely not enough. One explanation is the hot start model, popular for many years, in which Enceladus initially generated enormous internal heat through the decay of radioactive isotopes of aluminum and iron. Other elements that are slower to decay could then have provided more heat as the aluminum and iron stopped producing heat. The subsurface ocean that may have resulted on Enceladus could also exist on Pluto, according to Hussmann et al. (2006).

This is only one possible explanation for a heat source to power cryovolcanism, but there does need to be some sub-surface process on both Enceladus and Pluto that can cause these effects. The hot start model is a good option.