The hydrocarbons rain from the sky on the miserable moon, collecting in vast deposits that form lakes and dunes. This much was known. But now the stuff has been quantified using observations from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
"Titan is just covered in carbon-bearing material — it's a giant factory of organic chemicals," said Ralph Lorenz, a Cassini radar team member from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. "This vast carbon inventory is an important window into the geology and climate history of Titan."
Titan has long been viewed as a place that might be somewhat like Earth just before biology got going.
Cassini has mapped about 20 percent of Titan's surface with radar. Several hundred lakes and seas have been observed, with each of several dozen estimated to contain more hydrocarbon liquid than Earth's oil and gas reserves, according to a NASA statement. The dark dunes that run along the equator contain a volume of organics several hundred times larger than Earth's coal reserves.
Proven reserves of natural gas on Earth total 130 billion tons, enough to provide 300 times the amount of energy the entire United States uses annually for residential heating, cooling and lighting, according to the release. Dozens of Titan's lakes individually have the equivalent of at least this much energy in the form of methane and ethane.
Cassini's radar has observed the south polar region only once, and only two small lakes were visible.
The findings are detailed in the Jan. 29 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Scientists estimated Titan's lake depth by making some general assumptions based on lakes on Earth. They took the average area and depth of lakes on Earth, taking into account the nearby surroundings, like mountains. On Earth, the lake depth is often 10 times less than the height of nearby terrain.
"We also know that some lakes are more than 10 meters or so deep because they appear literally pitch-black to the radar. If they were shallow we'd see the bottom, and we don't," Lorenz said.
If the methane were to run out, Titan could become much colder. Scientists believe that methane might be supplied to the atmosphere by venting from the interior in cryovolcanic eruptions. If so, the amount of methane, and the temperature on Titan, may have fluctuated dramatically in Titan's past.
"We are carbon-based life, and understanding how far along the chain of complexity towards life that chemistry can go in an environment like Titan will be important in understanding the origins of life throughout the universe,"Lorenz said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
两个鬼故事玩火老九门小说开始懂了给儿童起名网鼠宝宝姓李起名起名常见笔画公司起名个性化根据中文名起英文名字是什么杰哥不要啦火箭少女101成员董姓男宝宝起名猪宝宝起名宜忌用字左右实习生鉴定评语暗影街商标服务起名金陵十三钗下载健康养生公司起名大全纹绣店怎么起名明字辈如何起名大全王者归来林风苏雅免费阅读小说宝宝起名那家公司好用cctv9色戒电影完整版女孩起小名洋气一点的男起名楚辞女名诗经电视剧法医秦明百度云卤肉店起名美汁源氏莫男孩起名分公司起名少年生前被连续抽血16次?多部门介入两大学生合买彩票中奖一人不认账让美丽中国“从细节出发”淀粉肠小王子日销售额涨超10倍高中生被打伤下体休学 邯郸通报单亲妈妈陷入热恋 14岁儿子报警何赛飞追着代拍打雅江山火三名扑火人员牺牲系谣言张家界的山上“长”满了韩国人?男孩8年未见母亲被告知被遗忘中国拥有亿元资产的家庭达13.3万户19岁小伙救下5人后溺亡 多方发声315晚会后胖东来又人满为患了张立群任西安交通大学校长“重生之我在北大当嫡校长”男子被猫抓伤后确诊“猫抓病”测试车高速逃费 小米:已补缴周杰伦一审败诉网易网友洛杉矶偶遇贾玲今日春分倪萍分享减重40斤方法七年后宇文玥被薅头发捞上岸许家印被限制高消费萧美琴窜访捷克 外交部回应联合利华开始重组专访95后高颜值猪保姆胖东来员工每周单休无小长假男子被流浪猫绊倒 投喂者赔24万小米汽车超级工厂正式揭幕黑马情侣提车了西双版纳热带植物园回应蜉蝣大爆发当地回应沈阳致3死车祸车主疑毒驾恒大被罚41.75亿到底怎么缴妈妈回应孩子在校撞护栏坠楼外国人感慨凌晨的中国很安全杨倩无缘巴黎奥运校方回应护栏损坏小学生课间坠楼房客欠租失踪 房东直发愁专家建议不必谈骨泥色变王树国卸任西安交大校长 师生送别手机成瘾是影响睡眠质量重要因素国产伟哥去年销售近13亿阿根廷将发行1万与2万面值的纸币兔狲“狲大娘”因病死亡遭遇山火的松茸之乡“开封王婆”爆火:促成四五十对奥巴马现身唐宁街 黑色着装引猜测考生莫言也上北大硕士复试名单了德国打算提及普京时仅用姓名天水麻辣烫把捣辣椒大爷累坏了