[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

[belleraphon1]

[*]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!)
[/list]

All... saw this in a San Francisco Chronicle by David Perlman

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../MNAC14PU10.DTL

Quote from Robert Nelson.....

"The radar evidence pushed the whole concept of cryovolcanism over the top," he said.
They revealed very distinct signs of steep-sided hills topped with craters -"true volcanic morphology," as Nelson put it - rising above large areas of sand dunes made from varied hydrocarbons."

Is this just a reporters misinterpretation of something said or have suggestive looking volcanic cones really been seen in the sand dune areas?

Mike?

Craig

[Juramike]

They revealed very distinct signs of steep-sided hills topped with craters -"true volcanic morphology," as Nelson put it - rising above large areas of sand dunes made from varied hydrocarbons."

Is this just a reporters misinterpretation of something said or have suggestive looking volcanic cones really been seen in the sand dune areas?

Not that I'm aware of, but there is still a lot of recent RADAR data that has not yet been released.



There was an abstract presenting pits in tectonic ridges in the T8 RADAR swath that was possibly related to cryovolcanic activity (more like fumaroles and hotsprings rather than a volcanic crater)

The bloop mountains I was referring to seem very uniform in appearance with a slight mottling to a RADAR-bright signature. (In some of the bloop islands of T8 there are a few ridges that reflect back a bright wrinkle. (No obvious pit central pit)

Some things that might be a interpreted as a breached caldera are in T8 to the WNW of the Huygens landing site, and a feature on Shikoku Facula. The features have a breached opening with what looks like RADAR slightly radar-medium gray dark material spilling out. (RADAR signature similar to that of some of the VIMS dark blue ice sand mantle material). [These could also be impact scars]


My favorite candidates for cindercone-looking things are the central part of Coats Facula, a dome that is well outside Menrva in the T3 swath, and a dome that is inside the SW rim of Menrva crater. Based on RADAR look angle, the dome well outside Menrva and the central part of Coats facula both appear to have a rased dias, then a central point (not a crater). (The Coats Facula object is right at the edge of the T28 Swath). 'Course this speculation is assuming that the RADAR reflective materials are constant of roughess and constant material [not a safe assumption!] and that only the slope angle is affecting RADAR return.


My absolute favorite extrusive-looking thingy is still Sotra Facula and it's clone stamp buddies arcing to the NE.
There is another Sotra looking thing in Belet, but it resembles more one of the Sotra ghosts.)

-Mike