[X] My Assistant

[ngunn]

Thinking about all that methane rain descending on Titan's south pole, draining out into Mezzoramia and then - who knows where? - set me wondering . .

IF it seeps through a porous material it could possibly warm up at depth and re-emerge gradually at the surface as methane gas. This could be a peaceful process, like the emission of methane from a terrestrial marsh (or rubbish tip) rather than anything sudden or localised. Now suppose a large sheet of impermeable material is simply laid over the ground in such a place it might begin to trap methane underneath and become buoyant. Something like this is maybe what starts mid-latitude convection cells. Could it be possible to harness the phenomenon to lift balloons? Relatively cool balloons, smaller heat loss problems, very low power requirements. With a nitrogen atmosphere and methane both readily available on Earth the technology could be tested here.