Very little sunlight is absorbed by the surface. Triton's axis of rotation is tilted 157 degrees with respect to Neptune's axis. This causes the moon's polar and equatorial regions to be alternately pointed towards the sun. This causes extreme seasonal changes as Triton's orientation changes. This uneven heating and cooling could account for some of the moon's curious surface features.
Triton has an extremely thin atmosphere composed mainly of nitrogen and methane.
There are very few craters visible on the surface, indicating that the moon is very young and probably highly active. There are high ridges and deep valleys all over the moon's surface. Perhaps the most interesting discovery to be made by Voyager 2 was Triton's ice volcanoes. Voyager photographed a plume of frozen material being ejected from the moon's surface. Astronomers believe this material to be composed of liquid nitrogen or methane.