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#1
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Titanian ice volcanoes
In http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-...B881Y3E_0.html, the
ESA said that "instead of lava, Titanian volcanoes spew very cold ice." Does this mean that Titan's interior is warm enough for liquid water to exist? Or are these volcanoes just oozing warmed-but-not-melted solid water ice? Perhaps Titan has an underground ocean, like the one on Europa. |
#2
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Maybe those cloud formations in Titan's southern hemisphere are
evidence of volcanism. |
#3
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"Eric Sadoyama" wrote:
In http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-...B881Y3E_0.html, the ESA said that "instead of lava, Titanian volcanoes spew very cold ice." Does this mean that Titan's interior is warm enough for liquid water to exist? Or are these volcanoes just oozing warmed-but-not-melted solid water ice? Perhaps Titan has an underground ocean, like the one on Europa. I don't think so, but I believe that undersurface, under lakes of liquid methan, could be a warmer temperature and perhaps bacterya life (we sent probably some terrestrian bacterya with Huygens...) ÿóÿý |
#4
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Aha. Titan does have an underground ocean. Or at least, it *could* have
one, deep and cold and dark and maybe 15% ammonia. By comparison, household ammonia cleaners are 5%-10% ammonia. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4196261.stm) |
#5
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In article .com,
Eric Sadoyama wrote: Aha. Titan does have an underground ocean. Or at least, it *could* have one, deep and cold and dark and maybe 15% ammonia. By comparison, household ammonia cleaners are 5%-10% ammonia. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4196261.stm) At least one paper I've read said that the subsurface ocean would be somewhat acidic, although this would be no barrier to life as we know it. The relative lack of energy inputs is the real limit on life in that sea. -- http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/ http://www.marryanamerican.ca http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll |
#6
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James Nicoll wrote:
In article .com, Eric Sadoyama wrote: Aha. Titan does have an underground ocean. Or at least, it *could* have one, deep and cold and dark and maybe 15% ammonia. By comparison, household ammonia cleaners are 5%-10% ammonia. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4196261.stm) At least one paper I've read said that the subsurface ocean would be somewhat acidic, although this would be no barrier to life as we know it. The relative lack of energy inputs is the real limit on life in that sea. What do you know about the geothermical energy being released by gravitational stresses of Titan/Saturn ? You are a surface being, and as such biased... How would that energy, lava flows, etc, interact in this ocean when you have 4 billion years to agitate slowly? Please remember that Titan has been evolving probably as long as the rest of the solar system. |
#7
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In article ,
jacob navia wrote: James Nicoll wrote: In article .com, Eric Sadoyama wrote: Aha. Titan does have an underground ocean. Or at least, it *could* have one, deep and cold and dark and maybe 15% ammonia. By comparison, household ammonia cleaners are 5%-10% ammonia. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4196261.stm) At least one paper I've read said that the subsurface ocean would be somewhat acidic, although this would be no barrier to life as we know it. The relative lack of energy inputs is the real limit on life in that sea. I think I was wrong on this. The PH of the ammonia/water ocean seems to be estimated at around 10-12, so it is basic, not acidic. What do you know about the geothermical energy being released by gravitational stresses of Titan/Saturn ? We can measure the amount heat being radiated by Titan, we know how much sunlight falls on it and from those two facts get a pretty good idea of the amount of energy being supplied from other sources. -- http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/ http://www.marryanamerican.ca http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll |
#8
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Aha. Titan does have an underground ocean. Or at least, it *could*
have one, deep and cold and dark and maybe 15% ammonia. Well, maybe not so cold after all. The current hypothesis explaining the persistence of methane in Titan's atmosphere requires that there be a methane-generating process underground somewhere, and if it's not biogenic, then the next best candidate process is "serpentinisation [which] is basically the reaction between water and rocks at 100 to 400 degrees C". (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...E29098,00.html) If that's what's going on, then Titan's interior must be plenty hot enough to support a liquid water center. |
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