Methane waves are shaping Saturn's largest moon, reveals MIT study
What's the story
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, bears a striking resemblance to Earth due to the presence of large liquid bodies on its surface. However, unlike Earth's water-filled oceans and rivers, Titan's liquid bodies are composed of ethane, methane, and other hydrocarbons. A recent study by geologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), suggests that waves of these greenhouse gases could be shaping Titan's landscape by eroding its coastlines.
Simulation study
MIT researchers simulate Titan's shoreline erosion
The MIT team utilized computer models to simulate different types of erosion that could have shaped Titan's shorelines. These simulations were based on images captured by NASA's Cassini mission nearly two decades ago. Taylor Perron, an MIT professor and co-author of the study, said, "If we could stand at the edge of one of Titan's seas, we might see waves of liquid methane and ethane lapping on the shore and crashing on the coasts during storms."
Scenarios
Wave erosion most likely shaped Titan's seas
The researchers simulated a sea with flooded river valleys around its edges. They ran it through three different scenarios: no coastal erosion, wave-driven erosion, and uniform erosion wherein liquid passively dissolves a coast's material over time, as it slowly sloughs off under its own weight. Perron noted that the same starting shorelines resulted in "a really different final shape under uniform erosion versus wave erosion."
Upcoming studies
Future research to focus on Titan's winds
The team mapped each of Titan's seas' shorelines using Cassini's radar pictures, and applied their modeling to each shoreline. They found that all four seas fit with the wave erosion model as the most likely mechanism to explain their shape. The researchers are now planning to study Titan's winds, examining how strong they must be to stir up waves strong enough to erode the moon's coasts.