[X] My Assistant

[titanicrivers]

Titan topics @ AGU 2008

The following links originally posted by E. Lakdawalla in her Planetary Society blog of 12-8-08 takes one to the interesting poster and platform session abstracts to be presented at the AGU this week. Lots of thought provoking topics covering Titan's atmosphere and surface!
http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/sessions5?meeti...amp;maxhits=400
http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/sessions5?meeti...amp;maxhits=400
http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/sessions5?meeti...amp;maxhits=400

[Juramike]

I do like the readjustment idea.

I've wondered about the apparent lower terrain (thus lakes) in the North compared to the South and if it fits in with E-W tectonic ridges. The two elements could be related. (And Xanadu, the "wierd continent" is also sitting on the Equator - is it denser than normal and in it's preferred equatorial placement or just a coincidence of where it happens to be?)

While Titan seems to lack huge cryovolcanic provinces (again, except maybe Xanadu), there seem to be a lot of weird funkyness that hints at a hot interior and active processes:

• the wierd little oval bloop mountains in the sand seas
• hard to explain things like the Evil Eye of Quivira, Coates facula, and friends
• the apparent extruded shape of Sotra Facula and the ghosts of Sotra Facula
• the black smokers of Omacatl Macula and Elpis Macula and the S Senkyo inky (and maybe a N Belet inky?)
• the domes near Menrva (and inside Menrva crater - so it came up post-impact!)

I don't easily see how the features above could have been easily caused by wind or rain. I really favor a hot interior model. Maybe not active tectonics, but definitely more than just and sand and organics moving around.

-Mike

[marsbug]

The domes near Menrva (and inside Menrva crater - so it came up post-impact!)


I don't easily see how the features above could have been easily caused by wind or rain. I really favor a hot interior model. Maybe not active tectonics, but definitely more than just and sand and organics moving around.

-Mike

Isn't Menrva large enough that any volcanism inside the crater was most likely due to the impact melt beneath the crater bubbling up? How long would the melt from an impact that size stay liquid? If it's a long time compared to local weathering and deposition might the crater be erased and leave an underground lens of liquid which could then erupt to the surface as volcanism? Obviously this didn't happen to Menrva, but titan must be hiding a lot of impact scars, could ancient melt sheets lead us down the garden path with regards to volcanism?

I'm just stream-of-thought-ing here.