by BDanielMayfield » Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:50 pm
orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:26 am
You know; It looks possible that Titan may have continents!
My Imagination may be getting carried away again!
PIA21615TitanNorthSummer1024.jpg
wikipedia wrote:The surface of Titan has been described as "complex, fluid-processed, [and] geologically young".[70] Titan has been around since the Solar System's formation, but its surface is much younger, between 100 million and 1 billion years old. Geological processes may have reshaped Titan's surface.[71] Titan's atmosphere is twice as thick as Earth's, making it difficult for astronomical instruments to image its surface in the visible light spectrum.[72] The Cassini spacecraft used infrared instruments, radar altimetry and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging to map portions of Titan during its close fly-bys. The first images revealed a diverse geology, with both rough and smooth areas. There are features that may be volcanic in origin, disgorging water mixed with ammonia onto the surface. There is also evidence that Titan's ice shell may be substantially rigid,[36][37] which would suggest little geologic activity.[73] There are also streaky features, some of them hundreds of kilometers in length, that appear to be caused by windblown particles.[74][75] Examination has also shown the surface to be relatively smooth; the few objects that seem to be impact craters appeared to have been filled in, perhaps by raining hydrocarbons or volcanoes. Radar altimetry suggests height variation is low, typically no more than 150 meters. Occasional elevation changes of 500 meters have been discovered and Titan has mountains that sometimes reach several hundred meters to more than 1 kilometer in height.[76] This may be compared to the much wider topological variations found on Earth and Mars, with Olympus Mons on Mars being 26 km above the surrounding plains, and Earth's Mauna Kea over 10 km above the ocean floor.
Titan's surface is marked by broad regions of bright and dark terrain. These include Xanadu, a large, reflective equatorial area about the size of Australia. It was first identified in infrared images from the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, and later viewed by the Cassini spacecraft. The convoluted region is filled with hills and cut by valleys and chasms.[77] It is criss-crossed in places by dark lineaments—sinuous topographical features resembling ridges or crevices. These may represent tectonic activity, which would indicate that Xanadu is geologically young. Alternatively, the lineaments may be liquid-formed channels, suggesting old terrain that has been cut through by stream systems.[78] There are dark areas of similar size elsewhere on Titan, observed from the ground and by Cassini; at least one of these, Ligeia Mare, Titan's second-largest sea, is almost a pure methane sea.[79][80]
[quote="orin stepanek" post_id=303354 time=1592652393 user_id=100812]
You know; It looks possible that Titan may have continents! :mrgreen:
My Imagination may be getting carried away again! :shock: 🚀 🛸 PIA21615TitanNorthSummer1024.jpg
[/quote]
[quote="wikipedia"]The surface of Titan has been described as "complex, fluid-processed, [and] geologically young".[70] Titan has been around since the Solar System's formation, but its surface is much younger, between 100 million and 1 billion years old. Geological processes may have reshaped Titan's surface.[71] Titan's atmosphere is twice as thick as Earth's, making it difficult for astronomical instruments to image its surface in the visible light spectrum.[72] The Cassini spacecraft used infrared instruments, radar altimetry and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging to map portions of Titan during its close fly-bys. The first images revealed a diverse geology, with both rough and smooth areas. There are features that may be volcanic in origin, disgorging water mixed with ammonia onto the surface. There is also evidence that Titan's ice shell may be substantially rigid,[36][37] which would suggest little geologic activity.[73] There are also streaky features, some of them hundreds of kilometers in length, that appear to be caused by windblown particles.[74][75] Examination has also shown the surface to be relatively smooth; the few objects that seem to be impact craters appeared to have been filled in, perhaps by raining hydrocarbons or volcanoes. Radar altimetry suggests height variation is low, typically no more than 150 meters. Occasional elevation changes of 500 meters have been discovered and Titan has mountains that sometimes reach several hundred meters to more than 1 kilometer in height.[76] This may be compared to the much wider topological variations found on Earth and Mars, with Olympus Mons on Mars being 26 km above the surrounding plains, and Earth's Mauna Kea over 10 km above the ocean floor.
Titan's surface is marked by broad regions of bright and dark terrain. These include Xanadu, a large, reflective equatorial area about the size of Australia. It was first identified in infrared images from the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, and later viewed by the Cassini spacecraft. The convoluted region is filled with hills and cut by valleys and chasms.[77] It is criss-crossed in places by dark lineaments—sinuous topographical features resembling ridges or crevices. These may represent tectonic activity, which would indicate that Xanadu is geologically young. Alternatively, the lineaments may be liquid-formed channels, suggesting old terrain that has been cut through by stream systems.[78] There are dark areas of similar size elsewhere on Titan, observed from the ground and by Cassini; at least one of these, Ligeia Mare, Titan's second-largest sea, is almost a pure methane sea.[79][80][/quote]