Monday, July 23, 2012

Saturn's Moon Titan May Have Seen Earth-Like Erosion


The thick, hazy atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest natural satellite, hides a complex moon with a perplexing geological past, a new study finds.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville studied images of Titan to investigate the erosion of its terrain, over millions of years, by rivers of liquid methane.

The scientists found that in some regions, Titan's network of rivers caused surprisingly little erosion, which could indicate that erosion processes on Titan occur extremely slowly, or that a different, more recent phenomena is to blame for altering or eliminating ancient riverbeds and landforms, the researchers said .... http://www.space.com