Giant ice volcano may have been found on Titan

[n2doc]

19:03 14 December 2010 by Eric Betz

A potential new ice volcano has been found on Saturn's moon Titan.

Named Sotra, the volcano is nearly 1 kilometre tall and has a 1.6-kilometre-deep pit alongside it. Surrounded by giant sand dunes, it is thought to be the largest in a string of several volcanoes that once spewed molten ice from deep beneath the moon's surface.

"We think we have found the strongest case yet for an ice volcano on Titan," said Randy Kirk, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona. "What we see is not just a flow like we see in other places, it's like a volcanic field would be on Earth."

Titan is about the size of the planet Mercury but has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's. This makes it incredibly difficult for astronomers to know what's happening on the surface. Planetary scientists, including Kirk, are using NASA's Cassini spacecraft to map the moon, but so far only about half of Titan has been imaged.


Sotra Facula is the best candidate yet for an ice volcano on Saturn's moon Titan (Image: NASA)

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http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19874-giant-ice-volcano-may-have-been-found-on-titan.html

[BadgerKid]

1. "Molten ice" is the new water?

I'll have to check ambient conditions on Titan, for maybe a particular phase of ice is involved.

[AlecBGreen]

3. perhaps its super cold, super pressurized

If the atmosphere is so dense, the air pressure should be extremely high @ the surface. Perhaps its high enough to keep water in a liquid state far below 32F.

[xchrom]

2. i bet that's really cold. nt