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Abstract: The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper obtained Synthetic Aperture Radar images of Titan''s surface during four fly-bys during the mission''s first year. These images show that Titan''s surface is very complex geologically, showing evidence of major planetary geologic processes, including cryovolcanism. This paper discusses the variety of cryovolcanic features identified from SAR images, their possible origin, and their geologic context. The features which we identify as cryovolcanic in origin include a large (180 km diameter) volcanic construct (dome or shield), several extensive flows, and three calderas which appear to be the source of flows. The composition of the cryomagma on Titan is still unknown, but constraints on rheological properties can be estimated using flow thickness. Rheological properties of one flow were estimated and appear inconsistent with ammonia–water slurries, and possibly more consistent with ammonia–water–methanol slurries. The extent of cryovolcanism on Titan is still not known, as only a small fraction of the surface has been imaged at sufficient resolution. Energetic considerations suggest that cryovolcanism may have been a dominant process in the resurfacing of Titan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The most recent Cassini RADAR images of Titan show widespread regions (up to 1500 kilometers by 200 kilometers) of near-parallel radar-dark linear features that appear to be seas of longitudinal dunes similar to those seen in the Namib desert on Earth. The Ku-band (2.17-centimeter wavelength) images show ∼100-meter ridges consistent with duneforms and reveal flow interactions with underlying hills. The distribution and orientation of the dunes support a model of fluctuating surface winds of ∼0.5 meter per second resulting from the combination of an eastward flow with a variable tidal wind. The existence of dunes also requires geological processes that create sand-sized (100- to 300-micrometer) particulates and a Lack of persistent equatorial surface liquids to act as sand traps, [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]