An asymmetric distribution of lakes on Titan as a possible consequence of orbital forcing

Aharonson, O.; Hayes, A. G.; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Lorenz, Ralph D.; Allison, M.; Elachi, C.

doi:10.1038/ngeo698

Cited by 159 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Titan's climate is primarily defined by a rainy warm "summer" season and a cold dry "winter" season, both spanning about 10 Earth years. Southern summers are shorter and more intense than those in the north (Aharonson et al, 2009). Precipitation occurs as sporadic and intense rainstorms during summer, when cloud formation is observed (Roe et al, 2002;Schaller et al, 2006Schaller et al, , 2009Rodriguez et al, 2009Rodriguez et al, , 2011Turtle et al, 2011a,b).…”

Section: Net Precipitation Rates On Titanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A methane-based permafrost would be difficult to form on Titan due to the presence of nitrogen in the atmosphere (Lorenz and Lunine, 2002;Heintz and Bich, 2009). Its putative cyclic destabilization would also be challenging, given the tiny temperature variations between summer and winter, day and night, equator and poles (Jennings et al, 2009;Lora et al, 2011;Cottini et al, 2012) over all timescales (Aharonson et al, 2009;Lora et al, 2011). On the other hand, solid organics have been shown to be quite soluble in liquid hydrocabons under Titan's surface conditions (Lunine et al, 1983;Raulin, 1987;Dubouloz et al, 1989;Cordier et al, 2009Cordier et al, , 2013aGlein and Shock , 2013;Tan et al, 2013), provided that they are available at the surface.…”

Section: Geological Origin Of the Depressionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the determination of the age of the lacustrine depressions on Titan probably result in maximum timescales of development. Titan's climate is believed to have remained quite stable over the recent past, with a small periodic insolation variation of ±2 W/m 2 at the poles during the last MEyr, for the current low insolation at the North pole (Aharonson et al, 2009). This probably brings some stability to the calculations.…”

Section: Case Of a Mixed Surface Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of these lakes and seas are currently covered by liquids, while others are not . Most are located in the polar regions Aharonson et al, 2009), although a few occurrences have been reported at lower latitudes (Moore and Howard , 2010;Vixie et al, 2012). The currently-filled lakes and seas are located poleward of 70 • of latitude in both hemispheres whereas most empty depressions are located at lower latitudes ( Figure 1) Aharonson et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissolution on Titan and on Earth: Toward the age of Titan's karstic landscapes

et al. 2015

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Titan's polar surface is dotted with hundreds of lacustrine depressions. Based on the hypothesis that they are karstic in origin, we aim at determining the efficiency of surface dissolution as a landshaping process on Titan, in a comparative planetology perspective with the Earth as reference. Our approach is based on the calculation of solutional denudation rates and allow inference of formation timescales for topographic depressions developed by chemical erosion on both planetary bodies. The model depends on the solubility of solids in liquids, the density of solids and liquids, and the average annual net rainfall rates. We compute and compare the denudation rates of pure solid organics in liquid hydrocarbons and of minerals in liquid water over Titan and Earth timescales. We then investigate the denudation rates of a superficial organic layer in liquid methane over one Titan year. At this timescale, such a layer on Titan would behave like salts or carbonates on Earth depending on its composition, which means that dissolution processes would likely occur, but would be 30 times slower on Titan compared to the Earth due to the seasonality of precipitation. Assuming an average depth of 100 m for Titan's lacustrine depressions, these could have developed in a few tens of millions of years at polar latitudes higher than 70 • N and S, and a few hundreds of million years at lower polar latitudes. The ages determined are consistent with the youth of the surface (< 1 Gyr) and the repartition of dissolution-related landforms on Titan.

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Section: Net Precipitation Rates On Titanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Geological Origin Of the Depressionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Of a Mixed Surface Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissolution on Titan and on Earth: Toward the age of Titan's karstic landscapes

et al. 2015

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“…Furthermore, the lakes exist in a variety of stages of fill, with some depressions appearing completely dry [51]. The lake systems are thus dynamic, although it is not known for sure if they are seasonally dynamic [105] or instead respond to longer climatic variations [2]. The analysis of paleo-shorelines thus provides important insights into the evolution of the lake and atmospheric systems.…”

Section: Task 11c Determine Lake Histories From Shoreline Changes Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

AVIATR—Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance

et al. 2011

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We describe a mission concept for a stand-alone Titan airplane mission: Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance (AVI-ATR). With independent delivery and direct-to-Earth communications, AVI-ATR could contribute to Titan science either alone or as part of a sustained Titan Exploration Program. As a focused mission, AVIATR as we have envisioned it would concentrate on the science that an airplane can do best: exploration of Titan's global diversity. We focus on surface geology/hydrology and lower-atmospheric structure and dynamics. With a carefully chosen set of seven instruments-2 near-IR cameras, 1 near-IR spectrometer, a RADAR altimeter, an atmospheric structure suite, a haze sensor, and a raindrop detector-AVIATR could accomplish a significant subset of the scientific objectives of the aerial element of flagship studies. The AVIATR spacecraft stack is composed of a Space Vehicle (SV) for cruise, an Entry Vehicle (EV) for entry and descent, and the Air Vehicle (AV) to fly in Titan's atmosphere. Using an Earth-Jupiter gravity assist trajectory delivers the spacecraft to Titan in 7.5 years, after which the AVIATR AV would operate for a 1-Earthyear nominal mission. We propose a novel 'gravity battery' climb-then-glide strategy to store energy for optimal use during telecommunications sessions. We would optimize our science by using the flexibility of the airplane platform, generating context data and stereo pairs by flying and banking the AV instead

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The bathymetry of a Titan sea

Mastrogiuseppe

Poggiali

Hayes

et al. 2014

Geophysical Research Letters

133

134

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We construct the depth profile-the bathymetry-of Titan's large sea Ligeia Mare from Cassini RADAR data collected during the 23 May 2013 (T91) nadir-looking altimetry flyby. We find the greatest depth to be about 160 m and a seabed slope that is gentler toward the northern shore, consistent with previously imaged shoreline morphologies. Low radio signal attenuation through the sea demonstrates that the liquid, for which we determine a loss tangent of 3 ± 1 · 10 À5 , is remarkably transparent, requiring a nearly pure methane-ethane composition, and further that microwave absorbing hydrocarbons, nitriles, and suspended particles be limited to less than the order of 0.1% of the liquid volume. Presence of nitrogen in the ethane-methane sea, expected based on its solubility and dominance in the atmosphere, is consistent with the low attenuation, but that of substantial dissolved polar species or suspended scatterers is not.

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An asymmetric distribution of lakes on Titan as a possible consequence of orbital forcing

Cited by 159 publications

References 22 publications

Dissolution on Titan and on Earth: Toward the age of Titan's karstic landscapes

Dissolution on Titan and on Earth: Toward the age of Titan's karstic landscapes

AVIATR—Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance

The bathymetry of a Titan sea

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