[X] My Assistant

[RNeuhaus]

Interesting article.

http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/d...ng-craters.html

The scientists tought that Titan must have hundred impact craters but they found a few ones. Then the hypothesis of missing craters might be related to volcanoes, rain and settling soot - perhaps aided by an eggshell-thin crust.

Rodolfo

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

A possible explanation to many more or less round isolated mountains would be diapirs. On top of the Titan crust, soot accumulates and it could bury craters, the author say. But if this surface layer is denser than deeper layers, an unstable situation appears, where the lighter layers bulges and rises in isolated blobs (diapirs) through the denser layer.

What could be the lighter layer?
-Ice? Ice is denser than common organics on Titan, and at its temperature it is rock hard. Only a carbon soot layer could be denser.
-methane mud? Mud diapirs exist on Earth, in alluvial zones where fine clays accumulate. Muddy layers pierce through surface layers. It is water-clay mud, but methane-ice or methane-solid organics may do the job on Titan.
-solid organics? Eventually methane washing could create a layer of solube organics in the depths of the crust. This layer would rise afterwards.