On the chemical composition of Titan’s dry lakebed evaporites
•IR observations suggest the existence of organic deposits in Titan’s dry lakebeds.•Atmospheric model provide species that could reach the surface in solid form.•Titan’s lakes are probably filled with liquid mixture of methane/ethane.•We have constructed models of dissolution of solid species in liq...
Gespeichert in:
Veröffentlicht in: | Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) N.Y. 1962), 2013-11, Vol.226 (2), p.1431-1437 |
---|---|
Hauptverfasser: | , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
Schlagworte: | |
Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
Zusammenfassung: | •IR observations suggest the existence of organic deposits in Titan’s dry lakebeds.•Atmospheric model provide species that could reach the surface in solid form.•Titan’s lakes are probably filled with liquid mixture of methane/ethane.•We have constructed models of dissolution of solid species in liquid methane/ethane.•Evaporation coupled to dissolution allows prediction of evaporite composition.
Titan, the main satellite of Saturn, has an active cycle of methane in its troposphere. Among other evidence for a mechanism of evaporation at work on the ground, dry lakebeds have been discovered. Recent Cassini infrared observations of these empty lakes have revealed a surface composition poor in water ice compared to that of the surrounding terrains—suggesting the existence of organic evaporites deposits. The chemical composition of these possible evaporites is unknown. In this paper, we study evaporite composition using a model that treats both organic solids dissolution and solvent evaporation. Our results suggest the possibility of large abundances of butane and acetylene in the lake evaporites. However, due to uncertainties of the employed theory, these determinations have to be confirmed by laboratory experiments. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0019-1035 1090-2643 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.icarus.2013.07.026 |