[X] My Assistant

[Juramike]

http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/HotTopics/ind...e-on-Titan.html

[OWW]

Is there a picture of this feature somewhere? I suppose it is a feature seen in one of the South Polar RADAR swaths?

[volcanopele]

Sikun Labyrinthus is a highland region near Titan's south pole. This region consists of a dense network of channels that feed into a wide river channel. This river channel then runs north and east to the southern tip of Mezzoramia. The graphic below shows Sikun, in the bottom right part of the image taken from the T39 SAR swath. The southern tip of Mezzoramia can be seen at the very top, with the large river flowing into it (though it is likely dry during this season). The white dashed line shows the extent of the river beyond the SAR swath as seen in ISS images of the region.

[volcanopele]

Though I'll be honest, I may have this backward, with Mezzoramia emptying into that river, which flows south and west to Sikun Labyrinthus, since Sikun does look a bit like a bird-foot delta...

My only quibble with that is that the "labyrinth" terrain seems to correspond to highland terrain at the south pole, while the much smoother terrain is below that, representing dry lake/sea beds. So in that case, the labyrinth terrain don't represent river deltas, but are more akin to the badlands in SD or the Canyonlands in UT, highly eroded uplands that feed a major river system.

[Juramike]

I think VP's first statement was correct.

There is a general pattern of channels gently draining to the S, as indicated by increasing Strahler order.

However, the main channel in the labyrinth region trends to the NE and shows evidence of channel piracy (capture) of the S draining channels. It flows to a darker region in the RADAR image at the E edge of the swath, then flows off the swath edge as VP indicated, then comes back in and flows N into SW Mezzoramia.

There's a lot goin' on down there...

[Juramike]

I'll also add that while these are highly dissected plateaux, I'm not sure if the labyrinth portion is all that elevated.

The broad flat-floored valleys seem to indicate that at some point the valley floor was near base level.