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Geomorphological map of the South Belet Region of Titan

Authors :
T. Verlander
Alexander Hayes
Paul Corlies
Samuel Birch
David A. Williams
Meghan Florence
Stéphane Le Mouélic
Ashley Schoenfeld
Elizabeth P. Turtle
Alice Le Gall
Michael Malaska
Rosaly M. C. Lopes
Michael A. Janssen
A. Solomonidou
Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences [Los Angeles] (EPSS)
University of California [Los Angeles] (UCLA)
University of California-University of California
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)
California Institute of Technology (CALTECH)
Faculty of Environmental Sciences [Prague]
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU)
School of Earth and Space Exploration [Tempe] (SESE)
Arizona State University [Tempe] (ASU)
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences [MIT, Cambridge] (EAPS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Department of Astronomy [Ithaca]
Cornell University [New York]
PLANETO - LATMOS
Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS)
Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)
Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112] (LPG)
Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST)
Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL)
School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science [Norman] (CEES)
University of Oklahoma (OU)
Source :
Icarus, Icarus, Elsevier, 2021, 366 (September), pp.114516. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114516⟩
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
HAL CCSD, 2021.

Abstract

International audience; We mapped in detail Titan's South Belet region which spans from longitude 60°E to 120°E and from latitude 60°S to 0°, encompassing both equatorial and southern mid-latitude regions. We used Cassini RADAR in its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode data as our basemap, which covers 31.8% of the region, supplemented with data from the RADAR's radiometry mode, the Imagining Science Subsystem (ISS), the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), and topographic data. This mapping work is a continuation of the detailed global mapping effort introduced in Malaska et al. (2016a) and continued in Lopes et al. (2020). We followed the mapping procedure described in Malaska et al. (2016a) for the Afekan Crater region and identified four major terrain classes in South Belet: craters, hummocky/mountainous, plains, and dunes. Each terrain class was subdivided into terrain units by characteristic morphology, including border shape, texture, general appearance, and radar backscatter. There are two terrain units that were not included in previous studies but were identified in our mapping of South Belet: “bright alluvial plains” and “pitted hummocky”. Similar to the Afekan Crater region, we find that plains dominate the surface make-up of South Belet, comprising ~47% of the mapped area. Unlike Afekan, the areal extent of the dunes closely rivals the dominance of plains, making up 43% of the mapped area. The next most widespread unit by area in the region following the dunes are the mountains/hummocky terrains (10%), and finally, crater terrains (0.01%). The introduction of two new units, “bright alluvial plains” and “pitted hummocky”, are necessary to capture the full range of morphologies seen in South Belet and expands our understanding of processes typical of Titan's equatorial and mid-latitude regions. For example, the presence of alluvial fans indicates a period in Titan's past where discharges and slopes were such that sediment could be mobilized and deposited. Similarly, the pits associated with the “pitted hummocky” may represent an important erosional feature, with implications for the removal of volatiles from Titan's crust. However, analysis of our geomorphological mapping results suggests the geology of South Belet is consistent with the narrative of organics dominating the equatorial and mid-latitudes. This is similar to the conclusion we arrived at through our mapping and analysis of the Afekan region. Lastly, the applicability of the terrain units from our mapping of the Afekan region, which bears a similar latitude but in the northern hemisphere, to our mapping of South Belet suggests latitudinal symmetry in Titan's surface processes and their evolution.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00191035 and 10902643
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Icarus, Icarus, Elsevier, 2021, 366 (September), pp.114516. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114516⟩
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....13536c4ac58c9218e56440037a5c877e
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114516⟩