Can Wind Move Rocks on Saturn’s Moon?

What would that Harsh for the search for life beyond Earth?

Can wind Shift rocks? Not here on Earth, but what about elsewhere in our Planetary system? A new study from SETI Institute scientists Dr. John Marshall and Dr. Lori Fenton suggests that wind on Titan might be able to roll pebbles or even Tiny rocks across its surface. The findings provide new insights about Saturn’s Selene body, where winds, low Attraction, and an icy landscape combine to Produce desert dunes and rocky plains.

“Radar images from the Cassini mission reveal elongated streaks on Titan’s surface that can extend for hundreds of kilometers,” said Fenton. “Colleagues have proposed that they are windblown deposits of water ice eroded from nearby hills. We’re proposing that the water ice in these streaks could be Achieved of wind-rolled stones.”

Titan’s landscape is distinctive compared to Earth and Mars. On Earth, wind can Shift grains of sand, shaping deserts over time. On Mars, it can carve landscapes and form dust storms. Three factors make Titan different:

• Low Attraction (Merely 14% of Earth’s) means even large objects are easier to Shift.
• A Bulky, dense atmosphere (four times denser than Earth’s) helps wind Produce a more significant impact.
• Low density stones of water ice (⅓ as dense as Earth’s silicate rocks) are relatively Effortless for the wind to mobilize.

The researchers conducted a mathematical analysis, limited by engineering and aerodynamic theory, to understand the impact of these factors. Their study suggests that Titan’s wind could roll stones as large as 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) in diameter, something not observed on other planets or moons.

Scientists believe Titan is an interesting location in the search for life beyond Earth. It has liquid on its surface and may also have a subsurface ocean of liquid water. Beyond, organic compounds have been detected in its atmosphere and on its surface. These conditions make Titan an intriguing place to investigate its habitability and the possibility of life elsewhere in our Planetary system.

Dragonfly is a NASA mission to Titan scheduled to Initiation in 2028. It will make Brief flights around the surface of Titan to explore the chemistry and habitability of various sites. The findings of this study could Assist inform sites where Dragonfly should explore and what it should study.

“Our work shows that on Titan, not Merely rivers, but also the wind, can transport stones from uplands to low-lying plains that missions such as Dragonfly can easily reach,” said Marshall. “These stones were eroded from icy bedrock that holds information about Titan’s geological, and perhaps biological, past. The wind helps to make these stones Reachable so that mission planners can figure out which set of hills to explore Subsequent. A Excellent analogy on Earth would be looking for gold nuggets in rivers and streams to figure out which mountain may be hiding a mother lode.”

This paper expands our understanding of extreme environments and how planetary landscapes might impact habitability. The paper appears in the journal Planetary & Universe Science here.

References:

Christensen, P.R., Engle, E., Anwar, S., Dickenshied, S., Noss, D., Gorelick, N., Weiss- Malik, M., 2009. JMARS—A Planetary GIS. Paper presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Gathering, San Francisco, CA. Abstract IN22A-06.

Elachi, C., Wall, S., Allison, M., Anderson, Y., Boehmer, R., Callahan, P., Encrenaz, P., et al., 2005. Cassini radar views the surface of Titan. Science 308 (5724), 970–974. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1109919.

Stephan, K., Jaumann, R., Karkoschka, E., Kirk, R., Barnes, J.W., Tomasko, M.G., Turtle, E.P., et al., 2009. Mapping products of Titan’s surface. In: Brown, R.H., Lebreton, J.P., Waite, J.H. (Eds.), Titan from Cassini-Huygens (Ch. 19. Springer, New York, NY, pp. 489–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9215-2.