A radar map of Titan Seas: Tidal dissipation and ocean mixing through the throat of Kraken
2014; Elsevier BV; Volume: 237; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/j.icarus.2014.04.005
ISSN1090-2643
AutoresR. D. Lorenz, Randolph L. Kirk, A. G. Hayes, Y. Anderson, J. I. Lunine, Tetsuya Tokano, E. P. Turtle, Michael J. Malaska, J. M. Soderblom, Antoine Łucas, Özgür Karatekin, Stephen D. Wall,
Tópico(s)Marine and environmental studies
ResumoWe present a radar map of the Titan's seas, with bathymetry estimated as proportional to distance from the nearest shore. This naïve analytic bathymetry, scaled to a recent radar sounding of Ligeia Mare, suggests a total liquid volume of ∼32,000 km3, at the low end of estimates made in 2008 when mapping coverage was incomplete. We note that Kraken Mare has two principal basins, separated by a narrow (∼17 km wide, ∼40 km long) strait we refer to as the 'throat'. Tidal currents in this strait may be dramatic (∼0.5 m/s), generating observable effects such as dynamic topography, whirlpools, and acoustic noise, much like tidal races on Earth such as the Corryvreckan off Scotland. If tidal flow through this strait is the dominant mixing process, the two basins take ∼20 Earth years to exchange their liquid inventory. Thus compositional differences over seasonal timescales may exist, but the composition of solutes (and thus evaporites) over Croll–Milankovich timescales should be homogenized.
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