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Possible Cryovolcano Discovered on Titan

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the cold-showers dept.

Rei writes "NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is reporting that the Cassini spacecraft has observed what appears to be a cryovolcano on Saturn's moon Titan. Given the absense of a global methane sea on Titan, the snail-shaped structure with what appears to be a caldera on top could explain how Titan's methane stays replenished. It could further explain the dry drainage channels discovered by the Huygens lander as being formed by heavy methane rainfall after eruptions."

7 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Great article by hostyle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Excellent, just what the Galaxy needs - a farting moon.

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    Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
  2. Caldera? by beacher · · Score: 5, Funny

    " appears to be a caldera on top could explain how Titan's methane stays replenished" I thought it was after the Canopy group acquired Caldera that the hot air came forth.... hrm. It would explain the drainage too...

  3. Titan Climatology by poopdeville · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Unlike terrestrial volcanic mounds, which are formed by the upwelling of lava, the hypothesis is that this feature is probably formed by plumes of frozen methane, forced from underground, which then slowly evaporate into methane gas. This would explain the abundance of methane in the Titan atmosphere. Titan is the only moon in the solar system to have a substantial atmosphere, a thick mix of nitrogen and methane. It is suspected to be undergoing chemical reactions similar to those that unfolded on Earth billions of years ago. That process eventually provided the conditions for life on our planet. Scientists have long pondered the source of Titan's methane, given that this chemical should have been degraded by the weak light from the Sun within a hundred million years or so.

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    After all, I am strangely colored.
    1. Re:Titan Climatology by youngerpants · · Score: 5, Informative
      Not necessarily, pyroclastic flows on Earth are flows of solid matter (rocks) that can occur during periods of volcanic activity.


      Although they are made out of "solid" matter the flows seem almost liquid in nature. Don't think of the methane as one huge frozen lump, but rather many solid lumps in motion.

  4. Definition of Cryovolcano by httpamphibio.us · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Cryovolcanoes are pseudo-volcanoes believed to be present on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Unlike volcanoes on Earth which spew hot lava, cryvolcanoes bring super-cool "lava" to the surface of their planets. They are volcanic-like vents that spew forth ice, water or vapor-phase volatiles, with some gas driven solid fragments instead of lava. It is suggetsed that they could be present on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. However it has only been seen on Triton, the biggest of Neptune's moons. Also it is said that they might be active in Europa and Enceladus.

    This term was coined by NASA in late 2004, when the Cassini space probe observed cryvolcanoes and cryogenic lakes for the first time."

    definition quoted from explore-dictionary.com

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    sig.
  5. Take a look for yourself by Chris84000000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day show a nice picture of this.

    If you're interested in this stuff, bookmark http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html, which just points to the current picture of the day.

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  6. That brings new meaning by lheal · · Score: 5, Funny

    to the phrase "titanic methane eruption".

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    Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.