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Scientists have found an explanation of the lakes on one of Saturn’s moons
Photo © pl.nasa.gov
Researchers have suggested the formation of methane lakes on Titan.
It is believed that on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, there are seas and lakes filled with methane and ethane. And not with water, as on Earth. Their origin was explained by the fact that liquid methane destroyed layers of ice and solid organic components, forming reservoirs filled with liquid. This is somewhat reminiscent of the formation of karst lakes on Earth.
Not all seas and lakes located on the satellite fall under this explanation. Some of them, found, in particular, by the Cassini apparatus, have edges that are quite high above the surface. In this case, scientists believe that they were formed as a result of explosions: the edges of the craters were formed by throwing them out of their internal parts.
To some extent, this explanation echoes the existing climate models. According to them, Titan is going through a warm era. For the past half billion or billion years, methane in the atmosphere, this Saturn satellite has acted like a greenhouse gas, keeping the planet relatively warm.
In colder periods, nitrogen prevailed in the atmosphere of Titan - it fell to the surface in the form of precipitation and collected in tanks under it.