Tropical lake on Titan? Surprising find could solve moon's methane mystery.
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Tropical lake on Titan? Surprising find could solve moon's methane mystery.
By Pete Spotts, Staff writer / June 13, 2012
Scientists have spotted a Great Salt Lake-scale patch of liquid methane on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, along with smaller swamp-like features, in an unexpected and intriguing place.
Data from the Cassini spacecraft currently touring the Saturn system have already revealed lakes at Titan's poles, fed by summertime methane rain. But Cassini's radar found nothing similar at lower latitudes, and climate models have suggested that long-lived lakes might be impossible there.
Now, the discovery of the large, shallow lake in the moon's tropics may offer scientists clues about the processes driving a moon that has fascinating similarities to Earth before life emerged.
If the finding is confirmed by additional observations, it could imply the existence of significant subsurface methane deposits feeding the tropical lake. Or perhaps the moon recycles methane, with the liquid in polar lakes migrating underground back to the tropics, where it wells up again in lakes.
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Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0613/Tropical-lake-on-Titan-Surprising-find-could-solve-moon-s-methane-mystery.
