Synthetic aperture radar images obtained in February 2005 show that
Titan's surface is modified by fluid flows and wind-driven deposits.
Previous synthetic aperture radar images have shown features that may be
cryovolcanic in origin, such as long flows (see PIA06993) and linear
features that may have formed by tectonic processes (see PIA06995).
The latest data argue that Titan has a young and dynamic surface that is
modified by all four major geologic processes: volcanism, tectonism,
erosion, and impact cratering. All surfaces of solid bodies are shaped by
these four processes, and Cassini-Huygens is revealing how each has
contributed to the Titan we see today.
The data show a variety of surface drainage patterns that include
twisting channels 1 to 2 kilometers-wide (0.6 to 1.2 miles) and up to
200-kilometers-long (124 miles). There is a well-developed drainage
pattern associated with a large (450-kilometer, or 280 mile-diameter)
basin that has eroded part of the basin's rim on the lower right of the
image. These patters are in much larger scales than those imaged by the
Huygens probe.
The most surprising new features revealed in the synthetic aperture
images are dark lineated streaks, dubbed "cat scratches," which are seen
in patches throughout the whole radar swath image (see PIA07009). The
"scratches" are interpreted as linear/longitudinal dunes formed by wind
transport. Radar images of terrestrial dunes, such as snow dunes in
Antarctica, show remarkably similar patterns. Individual "scratches" are
500 meters to 1 kilometer (1,640 feet to 0.6 miles) across and spaced by
1 to 2 kilometer intervals (0.6 to 1.2-mile), straight or undulated, and
oriented roughly east-west, suggesting a direction of prevalent winds.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages
the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The
Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar
instrument team is based at JPL, working with team members from the United
States and several European countries.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.
