The sand seas of Titan: Cassini RADAR observations of longitudinal dunes

被引：293

作者：

Lorenz, RD ^{[1
]}

Wall, S

Radebaugh, J

Boubin, G

Reffet, E

Janssen, M

Stofan, E

Lopes, R

Kirk, R

Elachi, C

Lunine, J

Mitchell, K

Paganelli, F

Soderblom, L

Wood, C

Wye, L

Zebker, H

Anderson, Y

Ostro, S

Allison, M

Boehmer, R

Callahan, P

Encrenaz, P

Ori, GG

Francescetti, G

Gim, Y

Hamilton, G

Hensley, S

Johnson, W

Kelleher, K

Muhleman, D

Picardi, G

Posa, F

Roth, L

Seu, R

Shaffer, S

Stiles, B

Vetrella, S

Flamini, E

West, R

机构：

[1] Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA

[2] CALTECH, Jet Prop Lab, Pasadena, CA 91109 USA

[3] US Geol Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 USA

[4] Proxemy Res, Bowie, MD 20715 USA

[5] Planetary Sci Inst, Tucson, AZ 85719 USA

[6] Wheeling Jesuit Coll, Wheeling, WV 26003 USA

[7] Stanford Univ, Stanford, CA 94305 USA

[8] NASA, Goddard Inst Space Studies, New York, NY 10025 USA

[9] Observ Paris, F-92195 Meudon, France

[10] Univ G DAnnunzio, Int Res Sch Planetary Sci, I-65127 Pescara, Italy

[11] Fac Ingn, I-80125 Naples, Italy

[12] CALTECH, Div Geol & Planetary Sci, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA

[13] Univ Roma La Sapienza, I-00184 Rome, Italy

[14] Politecn Bari, Dipartimento Interateneo Fis, I-70126 Bari, Italy

[15] INFM, I-70126 Bari, Italy

[16] Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, I-00131 Rome, Italy

来源：

SCIENCE | 2006年 / 312卷 / 5774期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1126/science.1123257

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

The most recent Cassini RADAR images of Titan show widespread regions ( up to 1500 kilometers by 200 kilometers) of near-parallel radar-dark linear features that appear to be seas of longitudinal dunes similar to those seen in the Namib desert on Earth. The Ku-band (2.17-centimeter wavelength) images show similar to 100-meter ridges consistent with duneforms and reveal flow interactions with underlying hills. The distribution and orientation of the dunes support a model of fluctuating surface winds of similar to 0.5 meter per second resulting from the combination of an eastward flow with a variable tidal wind. The existence of dunes also requires geological processes that create sand-sized (100- to 300-micrometer) particulates and a lack of persistent equatorial surface liquids to act as sand traps.

引用

页码：724 / 727

页数：4

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