Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan
LUNINE, J.I.
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] [LPL]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario [IFSI]
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Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] [LPL]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario [IFSI]
LUNINE, J.I.
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] [LPL]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario [IFSI]
< Reduce
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory [Tucson] [LPL]
Jet Propulsion Laboratory [JPL]
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario [IFSI]
Language
en
Article de revue
This item was published in
Icarus. 2008, vol. 195, n° 1, p. 415-433
Elsevier
English Abstract
Cassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to ...Read more >
Cassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or even current presence of hydrocarbon liquids. The T8 swath is dominated by dunes likely made of organic solids, but also contain somewhat enigmatic, probably tectonic, features that may be partly buried or degraded by erosion or relaxation in a thin crust. The dark areas in T7 show no dune morphology, unlike the dark areas in T8, but are radiometrically warm like the dunes. The Huygens landing site lies on the edge of the T8 swath; correlation of the radar and Huygens DISR images allows accurate determination of its coordinates, and indicates that to the north of the landing site sit two large longitudinal dunes. Indeed, had the Huygens probe trajectory been just 10 km north of where it actually was, images of large sand dunes would have been returned in place of the fluvially dissected terrain actually seen?illustrating the strong diversity of Titan's landscapes even at local scales.Read less <
English Keywords
Titan
Radar observations
Satellites
surfaces
Geological processes
Geophysics
Origin
Hal imported