24/7 Space News
SATURN DAILY
Saturn's moon Titan may have thick insulating methane ice crust up to six miles
illustration only
Saturn's moon Titan may have thick insulating methane ice crust up to six miles
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 28, 2024

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, stands out as the only celestial body besides Earth with a dense atmosphere and surface liquids, such as rivers, lakes, and seas. Due to its frigid environment, these liquids comprise hydrocarbons like methane and ethane, while Titan's surface primarily consists of solid water ice. Recent findings led by planetary scientists at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa suggest that methane gas could also be embedded within Titan's ice crust, creating an insulating layer up to six miles thick that warms the ice shell beneath and possibly accounts for the moon's methane-rich atmosphere.

Research associate Lauren Schurmeier, alongside doctoral candidate Gwendolyn Brouwer and researcher Sarah Fagents of the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) within UH Manoa's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), examined data from NASA showing Titan's impact craters are unusually shallow, with only 90 identified across its surface.

"This was very surprising because, based on other moons, we expect to see many more impact craters on the surface and craters that are much deeper than what we observe on Titan," Schurmeier explained. "We realized something unique to Titan must be making them become shallower and disappear relatively quickly."

To explore this mystery, the team used computer modeling to analyze how Titan's topography might change after an impact if the ice shell was covered by a layer of methane clathrate ice, which incorporates methane gas within its crystal structure. With limited information on Titan's original crater shapes, they based their simulations on similar-sized fresh craters on Ganymede, another icy moon, and tested various initial depths.

"Using this modeling approach, we were able to constrain the methane clathrate crust thickness to five to ten kilometers [about three to six miles] because simulations using that thickness produced crater depths that best matched the observed craters," Schurmeier noted. "The methane clathrate crust warms Titan's interior and causes surprisingly rapid topographic relaxation, which results in crater shallowing at a rate that is close to that of fast-moving warm glaciers on Earth."

The potential methane clathrate crust is significant not only for its insulation properties but also for understanding Titan's methane atmosphere and carbon cycle, which resemble a methane-driven "hydrological cycle" distinct from Earth's.

"Titan is a natural laboratory to study how the greenhouse gas methane warms and cycles through the atmosphere," Schurmeier remarked. "Earth's methane clathrate hydrates, found in the permafrost of Siberia and below the arctic seafloor, are currently destabilizing and releasing methane. So, lessons from Titan can provide important insights into processes happening on Earth."

The observed topography on Titan aligns with the study's findings. The methane clathrate crust indicates a warm interior, challenging prior assumptions of Titan's ice shell as cold, rigid, and inactive.

"Methane clathrate is stronger and more insulating than regular water ice," Schurmeier added. "A clathrate crust insulates Titan's interior, makes the water ice shell very warm and ductile, and implies that Titan's ice shell is or was slowly convecting."

Schurmeier also highlighted potential implications for astrobiology: "If life exists in Titan's ocean under the thick ice shell, any signs of life (biomarkers) would need to be transported up Titan's ice shell to where we could more easily access or view them with future missions. This is more likely to occur if Titan's ice shell is warm and convecting."

The upcoming NASA Dragonfly mission, set for a 2028 launch and 2034 arrival, will give researchers a closer look at Titan's surface, particularly Selk Crater, potentially advancing understanding of Titan's unique icy landscape.

Research Report:Rapid Impact Crater Relaxation Caused by an Insulating Methane Clathrate Crust on Titan

Related Links
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Explore The Ring World of Saturn and her moons
Jupiter and its Moons
The million outer planets of a star called Sol
News Flash at Mercury

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
SATURN DAILY
New analysis of Cassini data yields insights into Titan's seas
Ithica NY (SPX) Jul 17, 2024
A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded fresh insights related to the makeup and activity of the liquid hydrocarbon seas near the north pole of Titan, the largest of Saturn's 146 known moons. The key takeaway: Using data from several bistatic radar experiments, a Cornell University-led research team was able to separately analyze and estimate the composition and roughness of Titan's sea surfaces, something previous analyses of monostatic radar da ... read more

SATURN DAILY
Dragon Freedom Prepares for Short Relocation Ahead of Cargo Mission

Students' Experiments Launch to Space Aboard SpaceX Resupply Mission

After pause, NASAs Voyager 1 back communicating with mission team

Students aid NASA's plant growth research in space

SATURN DAILY
Southern Launch fully approved for Whalers Way rocket pad in South Australia

Official opening of the DLR BALIS test centre

SpaceX liftoff is 201st mission to expand its Starlink constellation

NASA offers virtual launch attendance, guest passport for next SpaceX supply mission

SATURN DAILY
Explanation found for encrusting of the Martian soil

Ancient Martian waterways carved beneath icy caps

Perseverance surveys its path as it ascends Jezero Crater

Red Rocks with Green Spots at 'Serpentine Rapids'

SATURN DAILY
Shenzhou 18 crew back in China after 6-month mission to Tiangong station

Shenzhou XIX Crew Joins Tiangong Space Station for Crew Rotation

Shenzhou-18 astronauts hand over Tiangong Station duties to new crew

Three-person crew enters China's Tiangong space station

SATURN DAILY
Sidus Space Integrates Iridium-Powered Upgrade for LizzieSat Platform

Hawkeye 360 enhances global monitoring with Clusters 9 and 10 now in opeation

Boeing exploring sale of space business: report

Space industry growth and Japan's role in satellite development

SATURN DAILY
Faster communication with Earth possible through record-sensitive receiver

NanoAvionics MP42 satellite survives impact with object in orbit

Lockheed Martin enhances space portfolio with Terran Orbital acquisition

Space resources challenge seeks innovators for Lunar technologies

SATURN DAILY
Ariel spacecraft prepares for rigorous tests at Airbus facility

Astronomers Identify New Organic Molecule in Interstellar Space

Optimal Learning Rates Revealed in New Study on Adaptation

Microbes thrive on iron in oxygen-free environments

SATURN DAILY
Uranus moon Miranda may hold a hidden ocean below its surface

NASA and SpaceX Set for Europa Clipper Launch on October 14

NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon

Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.