Cryovolcanic features on Titan's surface as revealed by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper
Rosaly M. C. Lopes
(1)
,
Karl L. Mitchell
(1)
,
Ellen R. Stofan
(2)
,
Jonathan I. Lunine
(3, 4)
,
Ralph D. Lorenz
(3)
,
Flora Paganelli
(1)
,
Randolph L. Kirk
(5)
,
C. A. Wood
(6)
,
Stephen D. Wall
(1)
,
L. E. Robshaw
(7)
,
A. D. Fortes
(8)
,
C. D. Neish
(3)
,
Jani Radebaugh
(3)
,
Erwan Reffet
(3)
,
S. Ostro
(1)
,
Charles Elachi
(1)
,
M. Allison
(9)
,
Y. Anderson
(1)
,
R. Boehmer
(1)
,
G. Boubin
(3)
,
P. Callahan
(1)
,
Pierre J. Encrenaz
(10, 11, 12)
,
Enrico Flamini
(13)
,
G. Francescetti
(14)
,
Y. Gim
(1)
,
G. Hamilton
(1)
,
S. Hensley
(1)
,
Michael A. Janssen
(1)
,
W. T. K. Johnson
(1)
,
K. Kelleher
(1)
,
Duane Muhleman
(15)
,
G. G. Ori
(16)
,
Roberto Orosei
(17)
,
G. Picardi
(18)
,
F. Posa
(19)
,
L. E. Roth
(1)
,
R. Seu
(18)
,
S. Shaffer
(1)
,
Laurence A. Soderblom
(5)
,
B. W. Stiles
(1)
,
S. Vetrella
(14)
,
R. D. West
(1)
,
L. C. Wye
(20)
,
H. A. Zebker
(20)
1
JPL -
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2 Proxemy Research, Bowie
3 LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [University of Arizona]
4 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
5 US Geological Survey, Flagstaff
6 Wheeling Jesuit University
7 Environmental Sciences Department, Lancaster University
8 UCL - University College of London [London]
9 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, National Aeronautics and Space Administration New York
10 Observatoire de Paris
11 LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etude du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique
12 Instrumentation et télédétection
13 ASI - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
14 Facoltá di Ingegneria
15 Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
16 International Research School of Planetary Sciences, Dipartimento di Scienze, Università d'Annunzio
17 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma
18 Universitá La Sapienza
19 INFM and Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica
20 Stanford University
2 Proxemy Research, Bowie
3 LPL - Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [University of Arizona]
4 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
5 US Geological Survey, Flagstaff
6 Wheeling Jesuit University
7 Environmental Sciences Department, Lancaster University
8 UCL - University College of London [London]
9 Goddard Institute for Space Studies, National Aeronautics and Space Administration New York
10 Observatoire de Paris
11 LERMA - Laboratoire d'Etude du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique
12 Instrumentation et télédétection
13 ASI - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
14 Facoltá di Ingegneria
15 Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
16 International Research School of Planetary Sciences, Dipartimento di Scienze, Università d'Annunzio
17 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma
18 Universitá La Sapienza
19 INFM and Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica
20 Stanford University
Jonathan I. Lunine
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 761866
- ORCID : 0000-0003-2279-4131
- IdRef : 050225081
Résumé
The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper obtained Synthetic Aperture Radar images of Titan's surface during four fly-bys during the mission's first year. These images show that Titan's surface is very complex geologically, showing evidence of major planetary geologic processes, including cryovolcanism. This paper discusses the variety of cryovolcanic features identified from SAR images, their possible origin, and their geologic context. The features which we identify as cryovolcanic in origin include a large (180 km diameter) volcanic construct (dome or shield), several extensive flows, and three calderas which appear to be the source of flows. The composition of the cryomagma on Titan is still unknown, but constraints on rheological properties can be estimated using flow thickness. Rheological properties of one flow were estimated and appear inconsistent with ammonia-water slurries, and possibly more consistent with ammonia-water-methanol slurries. The extent of cryovolcanism on Titan is still not known, as only a small fraction of the surface has been imaged at sufficient resolution. Energetic considerations suggest that cryovolcanism may have been a dominant process in the resurfacing of Titan.