Titan's Equatorial Sand Seas Options

[Juramike]

I took a stab at making a predicted altimetry swath along the uppermost tectonic ridgeline of the T8 Swath (The track follows the ridgeline on leaving the eastern basin near point B.):



This prediction is based on the ISS and RADAR images (RADAR bright and RADAR crinkly = higher) as well as the putative pattern of a gentle undulation perpendicular to the altimetry track.

-Mike

[Juramike]

The N-S trending broad undulations (graben) and W-E sharper tectonic ridges seem to be a pretty regular pattern across a large section of Titan.

This pattern is visible in the T8 Swath, the T13 Swath, the T23 Swath, the T28 Swath and in the T41 Swath.
From Adiri on the W, through Xanadu and Quivira in the E, the orientation and spacing of the sharper tectonic ridges seems pretty uniform, around 25-60 km spacing and oriented roughly EW.
(Note that while the tectonic ridge orientation is near constant in this section of the globe, the SAR RADAR look angle varies)

Central Adiri to NW Xanadu:


And W Xanadu:


(The ridges and broad valley pattern in the W Xanadu T13 section centered at -10S,135W is more difficult to discern, however the stream network pattern fits the spacing observed in the T41 Swath.)

-Mike

[Juramike]

The broad undulations (graben) seem also to trend NNE to SSW in Adiri with a wide regular spacing (>200 km), while in Xanadu the trend is roughly NNW to SSE with a spacing around 120 km in the W, and a tighter spacing in E central Xanadu and in E Quivira (70-50 km spacing). (Except for the T23 Swath, the broad undulations are NOT parallel to the RADAR swath track)

E Central Xanadu and the northern T28 tectonic ridges:



And E Quivira (T23 Swath):


It appears that a regular and systematic process occurred across a large section of Titan and left it’s trace as regular-spaced and oriented broad undulations and regular-spaced and oriented sharp tectonic ridges.

Spooky.

-Mike

[marsbug]

Just so's you know, although I don't have the knowledge to contribute I follow this thread religiously, fascinating stuff!

[nprev]

Me, too...go, Mike, and what sharp eyes you got!

I'll go ahead & hazard one thought, though. Regularly spaced features like this over such a relatively large region in terms of Titan's total surface area are very suggestive of them being an artifact of the crust/mantle decoupling described by Ralph Lorenz...maybe a physical effect of inertia dampening (that excess energy's gotta do something.)

What's really odd here is that there seem to be at least two populations of these things with different directional trends. Does this indicate that Titan's spin axis orientation has shifted over geological time, or merely that the crustal properties (esp. tensile strength and/or composition/crystallization state) differ between regions?

I'll second the "spooky", though. Titan is, for lack of a better word, just plain weird.

[Juramike]

Same images as in above posts, but with unannotated images in same graphic for better comparison:

Adiri and NW Xanadu:


NW Xanadu and W Xanadu:

[Juramike]

Central Xanadu:


T28 (N of Fensal), and T23 (E Quivira):


-Mike

[Juramike]

Something I've been working on for quite a while now...

Pseudocolorized ISS image of Fensal-Quivira-Aztlan with T3, T17, T25, and T28 RADAR Swaths overlaid:




-Mike

[Decepticon]

That is SO amazing!

[ElkGroveDan]

Pseudocolorized ISS image of Fensal-Quivira-Aztlan with T3, T17, T25, and T28 RADAR Swaths overlaid:

Kinda looks like your avatar, Mike. Is your living room painted that way too?

[nprev]

BEAUTIFUL, Mike!!!! Is this keyed to relative elevation from a datum, or based on reflectivity?

[Juramike]

Is this keyed to relative elevation from a datum, or based on reflectivity?

The colors are based on the grayscale image of the released ISS image. However, I think the ISS grayscale is roughly correlated to the relative elevation which itself is roughly correlated to the VIMS spectral properties of the surface materials (defined in this thread, post 319). For example, the high bright hilltop material (= "washed" equatorial bright unit), the dark blue ice sand shallow continental margins (= dark blue unit), and the organic muds in the deepest basins (=VIMS deep black unit).

When I did the color table, I lined up key colors to try to correlate with the different VIMS units.

Here is the key:
orange = VIMS "washed" equatorial bright unit
yellow = VIMS equatorial bright unit
lime green = VIMS "Rotten terrain" equatorial bright unit sloughs and lower lying areas
light blue-blue green = VIMS dark blue ice sand continental shelves/VIMS purple unit
blue = VIMS dark brown dune sands
purple = VIMS deep black unit

In the Equatorial basin zone, I suspect this matches up nicely with altitude, orange being the higher tectonic ridges, and purple being the deepest sediment filled basins, with the "bright/dark boundary" between lime green and light blue. Outside the Equatorial basin zone, deposition of organic "snow" (probably latitude dependant) brightens the terrain, so the correlation with altitude fades. (e.g. the Tseghi graben could be really deep).

A real notable exception to the rough altitude/spectra correlation in the image above is Omacatl Macula, this looks like a blue "hole" in the T3 RADAR swath. I suspect it is more likely at the same altitude as the surrounding terrain, but has had smooth dark material sprayed onto the surface. (Like somebody gangsta-tagged Titan's surface with a spray can).

-Mike

[Juramike]

Full pseudocolorized ISS basemap of Fensal-Quivira-Aztlan region with T3, T17, T25, and T28 RADAR Swaths:



-Mike

[nprev]

Uh... ..."DAMN!!!!" just doesn't quite cover it, Mike...wow!!!!

I think you're right; the low-lying areas must have been flooded at some point (or cyclically by monsoons?) The areas around the H look way, way too much like fluid-eroded coastlines.

[Juramike]

Pseudocolorized ISS image with T25/T28 RADAR overlay of Sotra Facula:



(I think this is my new favorite place on Titan)

What I find fascinating about this image is how the RADAR rougher putative cryovolcano is ISS-darker than some of the ramparts leftover from the afterimages of Sotra. I think Titan is giving us a really Big Clue right here, but I'm not sure exactly what it means...

I wonder if Tortola Facula and Kergeulen Facula look the same way?

-Mike