A geological characterization of Ligeia Mare in the northern polar region of Titan

Wasiak, F. C.; Androes, D.; Blackburn, D. G.; Tullis, Jason A.; Dixon, John C.; Chevrier, V. F.

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2013.05.007

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Also, the repeat observations by the RADAR in the same season ( L S = 306° and L S = 359°) showed essentially no change in the lake extent (Hayes et al, ). However, Wasiak et al () note morphologies characteristic of steep walls on many terrains around Ligeia Mare, and the canyon systems, in particular, identified by Poggiali et al () have steep walls as high as 570 m. Steep terrain was measured around Punga Mare (Figure 1 of Mastrogiuseppe, Poggiali, et al, ). These generally steep northern margins stand in contrast with the ∼10 −4 slopes seen in the margin of Ontario Lacus in the south (e.g., Lorenz et al, ) where a 1‐m possible drop in lake level would cause a shoreline migration of several kilometers, easily detectable with the 300‐ to 2,000‐m resolution of the Cassini radar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Seasonal Lake Level Fluctuations of Titan's Seas/Lakes

Tokano

Lorenz

2019

JGR Planets

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Seasonal variations in lake levels of Titan's hydrocarbon seas/lakes are predicted by an ocean circulation model in an effort to understand the observed temporal changes in lake size or lack thereof. Three different ground permeabilities are assumed so as to change the relative importance of precipitation, evaporation, river runoff, and groundwater seepage for the lake methane budget. The lake level generally rises in the rainy season around the summer solstice and falls or stagnates during long dry periods in autumn and winter. The annual lake level range in the northern hemisphere amounts to 50–120 cm depending on geographic location and size of the lakes and ground permeability. If the hydraulic connection between Punga Mare and Kraken Mare is weak, the lake level range of Punga Mare amplifies at the expense of other seas and also establishes a large lake level difference between these two seas, which is not compatible with the observation by the Cassini spacecraft. On‐lake precipitation would cause the lake level of Ontario Lacus to vary seasonally by merely 15 cm, yet river runoff from the huge catchment area can increase the annual lake level range to several meters. The shrinkage of Ontario Lacus observed by Cassini is more likely to be caused by lakebed seepage than by evaporation. The ultimate cause of the difference in the seasonal behavior between northern and southern lakes may be the hemispheric asymmetry in precipitation, be it caused astronomically or topographically.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling of Seasonal Lake Level Fluctuations of Titan's Seas/Lakes

Tokano

Lorenz

2019

JGR Planets

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“…Now that Titan's seas have been substantially mapped [e.g., Sotin et al , ; Wasiak et al , ; Lorenz et al , ], we consider how these seas participate in Titan's active hydrological cycle. Since the 1980s, Titan studies have assumed surface lakes and seas in thermodynamic equilibrium (and, implicitly, of geographically uniform composition) with the atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, it was the astronomer Edmond Halley [1714] who first considered salinity differences among bodies of water and the net accumulation of solutes in the ocean. Now that Titan's seas have been substantially mapped [e.g., Sotin et al, 2012;Wasiak et al, 2013;Lorenz et al, 2014], we consider how these seas participate in Titan's active hydrological cycle. Since the 1980s, Titan studies have assumed surface lakes and seas in thermodynamic equilibrium (and, implicitly, of geographically uniform composition) with the atmosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the observation of ria coastlines on Ligeia [e.g., Wasiak et al, 2013] imply presently rising sea levels and evaporite deposits around many lake and sea basins [Barnes et al, 2011b], implying formerly higher sea levels. These may be consistent with a climate subject to astronomically forced Croll-Milankovich cycles oñ 30,000 year timescales [Aharonson et al, 2009], forcing Titan to be always off-balance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The flushing of Ligeia: Composition variations across Titan's seas in a simple hydrological model

Lorenz

2014

Geophysical Research Letters

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We use a simple box model to explore possible differences in the liquid composition of Titan's seas. Major variations in the abundance of involatile ethane, somewhat analogous to salinity in terrestrial waters, arise from the hydrological cycle, which introduces more "fresh" methane rainfall at the highest latitudes in summer. The observed composition of Ligeia Mare, flushed by methane rainfall and exporting its solutes to Kraken via a narrow labyrinth of channels, may have a methane-rich (>~80%) composition, well out of thermodynamic equilibrium with the atmosphere, whereas the basins of Kraken are relatively well mixed and will have an ethane-dominated (~60%) composition. These variations, analogous to Earth's salinity gradient between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, may be detectable with Cassini measurements and are important for future exploration.

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“…2) which suggest valleys being flooded by rising sea levels (e.g. Wasiak et al, 2013;Sotin et al, 2012), and with the kidney-shaped outline, shallow (and possibly declining) depth of Ontario Lacus in the south (Fig. 1) -see Hayes et al, (2010Hayes et al, ( , 2011.…”

Section: Target -Ligeia Marementioning

confidence: 99%

Voyage across Ligeia Mare: Mechanics of sailing on the hydrocarbon seas of Saturn׳s Moon, Titan

Lorenz

2015

Ocean Engineering

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A geological characterization of Ligeia Mare in the northern polar region of Titan

Cited by 21 publications

References 26 publications

Modeling of Seasonal Lake Level Fluctuations of Titan's Seas/Lakes

Modeling of Seasonal Lake Level Fluctuations of Titan's Seas/Lakes

The flushing of Ligeia: Composition variations across Titan's seas in a simple hydrological model

Voyage across Ligeia Mare: Mechanics of sailing on the hydrocarbon seas of Saturn׳s Moon, Titan

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