Scientists confused by missing coastal features on Titan, Saturn's largest moon

[Admin]

Scientists have long known that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, hosts rivers and seas of liquid methane. But it's strangely lacking in river deltas, a new study suggests.

Scientists confused by missing coastal features on Titan, Saturn's largest moon : Read more

 

[Unclear Engineer]

I think the first question is what is the "land" on Titan composed of, compared to its liquid methane "rivers" and "oceans"? Deltas are formed with materials eroded from "land".

And, the second issue is that delta's form on the submerged, gently sloping parts of continents. On Earth, geologically recent history has involved major changes in the level of the oceans. Today, the oceans cover the edges of continents, and even seem to have submerged all but New Zealand on a particularly low piece of continental crust that has recently been recognized and dubbed a "lost continent".

If we look at the edges of continents that are now under sea level, we usually find "canyons" where river water eroded the edges during the major glaciation peaks, when sea levels were a lot lower. I don't think those "canyons" have associated "deltas" until you get down to the ocean floor, at substantial depth.

So, on Titan, what is eroding off the "land", which may be ice of some sorts, such as CO2 "dry ice". Would that deposit on the bottom of the methane liquid when the liquid flow rate decreases? I think dry ice is a lot more dense than liquid methane. But, how do they behave together? Is one absorbed into the other? What does that do to the properties of the mixture?

 

[Classical Motion]

This doesn’t surprise me. When you spill water on the ground, it dissolves the ground and makes mud.

And water soaks into the ground, then can change phase, further decimating the soil and rock.

That environment and that insolubility prevents erosion and sediment. At least the same kind of erosion that water and moisture does.

I am surprised that any chemist or geologist would be surprised.

But, all my surprises come from academia. And government studies.

Surprise surprise.