On a ring origin of the equatorial ridge of Iapetus |
On a ring origin of the equatorial ridge of Iapetus |
Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
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Wing Ip just had an interesting Iapetus-related paper published in GRL.
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 114 Joined: 6-November 05 From: So. Maryland, USA Member No.: 544 ![]() |
Does the paper address why the equatorial ridge doesn't go all the way around Iapetus?
Michael |
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Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1276 Joined: 25-November 04 Member No.: 114 ![]() |
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 ![]() |
Roughly speaking, I guess the fact that the ridge would be built up instead of torn down comes down to secondary impacts, and the fact that smaller impacts don't produce secondaries moving at orbital velocity.
Note carefully (!!!): Iapetus ring particles would not be coming in at interplanetary speeds. They would be coming in at Iapetus orbital speeds, and that's way less than even lunar orbital speeds. I wonder if, even if the ridge and albedo blotch are not identical in their origin, if they might be similar. Let's say a lot of smaller debris rained down on the equator, and then thereafter one big "moon" hit where the Snowman is and rained dark stuff downrange (east to west). The basic mechanism would be stuff in Iapetus orbit decaying until it hits surface. |
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