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Full-Text Articles in Geology
The Study Of Titan's Surface Using Impact Craters And Analogues, Jahnavi Shah
The Study Of Titan's Surface Using Impact Craters And Analogues, Jahnavi Shah
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is an icy world harbouring a subsurface water ocean, a substantial atmosphere, and a flowing liquid on its surface. These distinctive characteristics give rise to complex chemical reactions on Titan, and also render it akin to Earth in terms of its landforms and processes. This positions Titan as a key target for studying prebiotic chemistry. NASA's fourth New Frontiers mission, Dragonfly, is poised to explore Titan’s surface in the 2030s. Dragonfly’s primary study site will be Selk crater, a relatively fresh impact crater located in Titan’s equatorial sand seas. Impact craters serve as valuable markers for …
Terrestrial Craters As Analogues For Degraded Craters On Titan, Taylor M. Duncan
Terrestrial Craters As Analogues For Degraded Craters On Titan, Taylor M. Duncan
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Besides Earth, Titan is the only planetary body in our Solar System to currently have flowing liquid on its surface. Previous works note that dendritic and rectangular stream networks are present on a global scale on Titan, but do not map networks in the vicinity of Titan’s impact craters: Selk and Sinlap. The objective of this work is to understand how stream networks form adjacent to Titan’s impact craters. This information will inform future missions to Titan (i.e., Dragonfly) about the fluvial morphology of streams near their landing site. I conduct an analogue study with the stream networks at three …
Impact Craters On Titan: Finalizing Titan's Crater Population, Joshua E. Hedgepeth
Impact Craters On Titan: Finalizing Titan's Crater Population, Joshua E. Hedgepeth
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Titan is one of the most dynamic moons in the solar system. It is smaller than Earth and much colder, yet Titan is eerily similar to Earth, with rivers, rain, and seas, as well as sand seas that wrap around the equator. However, the rivers are made of hydrocarbons rather than water and the sand made of organics rather rock. We can use Titan’s impact craters to study how these processes modify the surface by comparing the craters depths, diameters and rim heights of Titan’s craters with fresh craters. Therefore, we have used the complete data set from NASA’s Cassini …
Compositional Variations Of Titan's Impact Craters Indicates Active Surface Erosion, Alyssa Werynski
Compositional Variations Of Titan's Impact Craters Indicates Active Surface Erosion, Alyssa Werynski
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Impact craters on Titan are relatively scarce, but provide ample information about the subsurface properties and modification processes present there. This study utilizes impact craters to examine compositional variations across Titan’s surface and their subsequent modification. Fifteen craters and their ejecta blankets were studied. Subsurface composition was inferred from emissivity data from Cassini’s RADAR instrument, and surficial composition from Cassini’s Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). Results show subsurface composition of these craters is controlled by their degradation state and local environment. Older craters are more infilled with organics than younger, and dunes craters show more organic enrichment than plains …