Scientists confused by missing coastal features on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon
https://www.space.com/the-universe/saturn/scientists-confused-by-missing-coastal-features-on-titan-saturns-largest-moon
Scientists confused by missing coastal features on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon
https://www.space.com/the-universe/saturn/scientists-confused-by-missing-coastal-features-on-titan-saturns-largest-moon
5 Comments
Oceans of liquid other than water would result in different coastal features than on earth? I’m not sure they’re confused about that.
Ugh… Space.com ad cancer. Here is a clean [article/press release from Brown University](https://www.brown.edu/news/2025-04-18/titan), including this rather important bit that the Space com article doesn’t:
>It’s not entirely clear why Titan generally lacks deltas, Birch says. The fluid properties of Titan’s rivers should make them perfectly capable of carrying and depositing sediment. It could be, the researchers say, that sea levels on Titan rise and fall so rapidly that deltas are smeared across the landscape more quickly than they can be built up in a single spot. Winds and tidal currents along Titan’s coasts may also play an equally large role in preventing delta formation.
[Original paper](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JE008737)–although the full text is paywalled.
Anyone know of any long term missions to establish something like the Mars observer over Titan?
wait do scientists not jump straight to being baffled anymore?
It kinda makes sense to me if you think about it, it seems like the liquid methane would have a drastically lower viscosity and density compared to water. Assuming that drastically reduces its ability to carry sediment and cause erosion. Once you factor in the lower gravity it seems like that should be expected. Am I wrong in this assumption?