NEW YORK: Saturn’s moon Titan is the only body in the solar system known to have lakes and seas on its surface. A new study may show how these holes formed on the moon’s surface.
A study using data from NASA and European Space Agency’s Cassini spacecraft indicates the moon’s surface dissolves similar to the way sinkholes form on Earth. Because of Titan’s cold temperatures- negative 292 degrees- the lakes are filled with liquid methane and ethane, not water. On Earth, sinkholes form due to erosion of dissolvable rocks like limestone.
Scientist at ESA determined how long it would take for areas of Titan’s surface to dissolve to create the sinkhole like features. Using Cassini data of Titan’s climate they found it would take about 50 million years to create a 300-foot hole on Titan’s surface.
“We found that the dissolution process occurs on Titan some 30 times slower than on Earth due to the longer length of Titan’s year and the fact it only rains during Titan summer,” said Thomas Cornet, lead ESA scientist for the study. “Nonetheless, we believe that dissolution is a major cause of landscape evolution on Titan and could be the origin of its lakes.”
Cassini recently completed a flyby of another Saturn moon on June 16 and sent back images of Dione’s rugged surface. In August the spacecraft will make a final flyby of Dione, dropping to within 295 miles of the moon. Later this year Cassini will begin preparation for its final mission to dive though the space between Saturn and its rings.
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