Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jan 4;445(7123):61-4.
doi: 10.1038/nature05438.

The lakes of Titan

E R Stofan  1 , C Elachi, J I Lunine, R D Lorenz, B Stiles, K L Mitchell, S Ostro, L Soderblom, C Wood, H Zebker, S Wall, M Janssen, R Kirk, R Lopes, F Paganelli, J Radebaugh, L Wye, Y Anderson, M Allison, R Boehmer, P Callahan, P Encrenaz, E Flamini, G Francescetti, Y Gim, G Hamilton, S Hensley, W T K Johnson, K Kelleher, D Muhleman, P Paillou, G Picardi, F Posa, L Roth, R Seu, S Shaffer, S Vetrella, R West
Affiliations

The lakes of Titan

E R Stofan et al. Nature. .

Abstract

The surface of Saturn's haze-shrouded moon Titan has long been proposed to have oceans or lakes, on the basis of the stability of liquid methane at the surface. Initial visible and radar imaging failed to find any evidence of an ocean, although abundant evidence was found that flowing liquids have existed on the surface. Here we provide definitive evidence for the presence of lakes on the surface of Titan, obtained during the Cassini Radar flyby of Titan on 22 July 2006 (T16). The radar imaging polewards of 70 degrees north shows more than 75 circular to irregular radar-dark patches, in a region where liquid methane and ethane are expected to be abundant and stable on the surface. The radar-dark patches are interpreted as lakes on the basis of their very low radar reflectivity and morphological similarities to lakes, including associated channels and location in topographic depressions. Some of the lakes do not completely fill the depressions in which they lie, and apparently dry depressions are present. We interpret this to indicate that lakes are present in a number of states, including partly dry and liquid-filled. These northern-hemisphere lakes constitute the strongest evidence yet that a condensable-liquid hydrological cycle is active in Titan's surface and atmosphere, in which the lakes are filled through rainfall and/or intersection with the subsurface 'liquid methane' table.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • The NASA Roadmap to Ocean Worlds.
    Hendrix AR, Hurford TA, Barge LM, Bland MT, Bowman JS, Brinckerhoff W, Buratti BJ, Cable ML, Castillo-Rogez J, Collins GC, Diniega S, German CR, Hayes AG, Hoehler T, Hosseini S, Howett CJA, McEwen AS, Neish CD, Neveu M, Nordheim TA, Patterson GW, Patthoff DA, Phillips C, Rhoden A, Schmidt BE, Singer KN, Soderblom JM, Vance SD. Hendrix AR, et al. Astrobiology. 2019 Jan;19(1):1-27. doi: 10.1089/ast.2018.1955. Epub 2018 Oct 13. Astrobiology. 2019. PMID: 30346215 Free PMC article.
  • Quantum Tunnelling to the Origin and Evolution of Life.
    Trixler F. Trixler F. Curr Org Chem. 2013 Aug;17(16):1758-1770. doi: 10.2174/13852728113179990083. Curr Org Chem. 2013. PMID: 24039543 Free PMC article.
  • Formation, habitability, and detection of extrasolar moons.
    Heller R, Williams D, Kipping D, Limbach MA, Turner E, Greenberg R, Sasaki T, Bolmont E, Grasset O, Lewis K, Barnes R, Zuluaga JI. Heller R, et al. Astrobiology. 2014 Sep;14(9):798-835. doi: 10.1089/ast.2014.1147. Epub 2014 Aug 22. Astrobiology. 2014. PMID: 25147963 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Low Energy Subsurface Environments as Extraterrestrial Analogs.
    Jones RM, Goordial JM, Orcutt BN. Jones RM, et al. Front Microbiol. 2018 Jul 18;9:1605. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01605. eCollection 2018. Front Microbiol. 2018. PMID: 30072971 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Cassini/VIMS observes rough surfaces on Titan's Punga Mare in specular reflection.
    Barnes JW, Sotin C, Soderblom JM, Brown RH, Hayes AG, Donelan M, Rodriguez S, Mouélic SL, Baines KH, McCord TB. Barnes JW, et al. Planet Sci. 2014;3:3. doi: 10.1186/s13535-014-0003-4. Epub 2014 Aug 21. Planet Sci. 2014. PMID: 27512619 Free PMC article.
See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources