Search

Acetylene and ammonia are known to form a stable orthorhombic co‐crystal under the surface conditions of Saturn's moon Titan (1.5 bar = 150 kPa, 94 K). Such a material represents a potential new class of organic minerals that could play an important role in Titan's geology. In this work, the thermal expansion of this co‐crystalline system has been derived from in situ powder X‐ray diffraction data obtained between 85 and 120 K. The results indicate significant anisotropy, with the majority of the expansion occurring along the c axis (∼2% over the temperature range of interest). Rietveld refinements reveal little change to the structure compared with that previously reported by Boese, Bläser & Jansen [J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2009), 131, 2104–2106]. The expansion is consistent with the alignment of C—H...N interactions along the chains in the a and b axes, and weak intermolecular bonding in the structural layers along the c axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saturn’s moon Titan has a surface that is dominated by molecular materials, much of which are photochemically produced in the moon’s atmosphere. This outlook reviews the potential minerals that would be expected to form on the surface and subsurface of Titan from these molecular solids. We seek to classify them and look toward how the future study of these minerals will enhance our understanding of this planetary body. The classification uses the basis of intermolecular interactions, with the materials grouped into “Molecular solids,” “Molecular co-crystals,” and “Hydrates” classes alongside speculation on other possible classes of potential Titan minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hundreds of lakes and a few seas of liquid hydrocarbons have been observed by the Cassini spacecraft to cover the polar regions of Titan. A significant fraction of these lakes or seas could possibly be interconnected with subsurface liquid reservoirs of alkanes. In this paper, we investigate the interplay that would happen between a reservoir of liquid hydrocarbons located in Titan's subsurface and a hypothetical clathrate reservoir that progressively forms if the liquid mixture diffuses throughout a preexisting porous icy layer. To do so, we use a statistical-thermodynamic model in order to compute the composition of the clathrate reservoir that forms as a result of the progressive entrapping of the liquid mixture. This study shows that clathrate formation strongly fractionates the molecules between the liquid and the solid phases. Depending on whether the structures I or II clathrate forms, the present model predicts that the liquid reservoirs would be mainly composed of either propane or ethane, respectively. The other molecules present in the liquid are trapped in clathrates. Any river or lake emanating from subsurface liquid reservoirs that significantly interacted with clathrate reservoirs should present such composition. On the other hand, lakes and rivers sourced by precipitation should contain higher fractions of methane and nitrogen, as well as minor traces of argon and carbon monoxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We have conducted high-pressure experiments in the H2O–CH4 and H2O–CH4–NH3 systems in order to investigate the stability of methane clathrate hydrates, with an optical sapphire-anvil cell coupled to a Raman spectrometer for sample characterization. The results obtained confirm that three factors determine the stability of methane clathrate hydrates: (1) the bulk methane content of the samples; (2) the presence of additional gas compounds such as nitrogen; (3) the concentration of ammonia in the aqueous solution. We show that ammonia has a strong effect on the stability of methane clathrates. For example, a 10wt.% NH3 solution decreases the dissociation temperature of methane clathrates by 14–25K at pressures above 5MPa. Then, we apply these new results to Titan’s conditions. Dissociation of methane clathrate hydrates and subsequent outgassing can only occur in Titan’s icy crust, in presence of locally large amounts of ammonia and in a warm context. We propose a model of cryomagma chamber within the crust that provides the required conditions for methane outgassing: emplacement of an ice plume triggers the melting (if solid) or heating (if liquid) of large ammonia–water pockets trapped at shallow depth, and the generated cryomagmas dissociate surrounding methane clathrate hydrates. We show that this model may allow for the outgassing of significant amounts of methane, which would be sufficient to maintain the presence of methane in Titan’s atmosphere for several tens of thousands of years after a large cryovolcanic event. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To date, there has been no conclusive observation of ongoing endogenous volcanic activity on Saturn's moon Titan. However, with time, Titan's atmospheric methane is lost and must be replenished. We have modeled one possible mechanism for the replenishment of Titan's methane loss. Cryolavas can supply enough heat to release large amounts of methane from methane clathrate hydrates (MCH). The volume of methane released is controlled by the flow thickness and its areal extent. The depth of the destabilisation layer is typically ≈30% of the thickness of the lava flow (≈3 m for a 10-m thick flow). For this flow example, a maximum of 372 kg of methane is released per m 2 of flow area. Such an event would release methane for nearly a year. One or two events per year covering ∼20 km 2 would be sufficient to resupply atmospheric methane. A much larger effusive event covering an area of ≈9000 km 2 with flows 200 m thick would release enough methane to sustain current methane concentrations for 10,000 years. The minimum size of “cryo-flows” sufficient to maintain the current atmospheric methane is small enough that their detection with current instruments (e.g., Cassini ) could be challenging. We do not suggest that Titan's original atmosphere was generated by this mechanism. It is unlikely that small-scale surface MCH destabilisation is solely responsible for long-term (> a few Myr) sustenance of Titan's atmospheric methane, but rather we present it as a possible contributor to Titan's past and current atmospheric methane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As on Earth, Titan’s atmosphere plays a major role in the cooling of heated surfaces. We have assessed the mechanisms by which Titan’s atmosphere, dominantly N2 at a surface pressure of 1.5×105 Pa, cools a warm or heated surface. These heated areas can be caused by impacts generating melt sheets and (possibly) by endogenic processes emplacing cryolavas (a low-temperature liquid that freezes on the surface). We find that for a cooling cryolava flow, lava lake, or impact melt body, heat loss is mainly driven by atmospheric convection. Radiative heat loss, a dominant heat loss mechanism with terrestrial silicate lava flows, plays only a minor role on Titan. Long-term cooling and solidification are dependent on melt sheet or flow thickness, and also local climate, because persistent winds will speed cooling. Relatively rapid cooling caused by winds reduces the detectability of these thermal events by instruments measuring surface thermal emission. Because surface temperature drops by ≈50% within ≈1day of emplacement, fresh flows or impact melt may be difficult to detect via thermal emission unless an active eruption is directly observed. Cooling of flow or impact melt surfaces are orders of magnitude faster on Titan than on airless moons (e.g., Enceladus or Europa). Although upper surfaces cool fast, the internal cooling and solidification process is relatively slow. Cryolava flow lengths are, therefore, more likely to be volume (effusion) limited, rather than cooling-limited. More detailed modeling awaits constraints on the thermophysical properties of the likely cryomagmas and surface materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Cassini spacecraft has revealed landforms on the surface of Titan suggested to be viscous cryovolcanic flows and possibly eruptive domes. In order to relate those surface features to the processes and chemistries that produced them, it is necessary to construct flow models, which rely on characterization of the rheological properties of the eruptants. This paper describes our initial exploratory attempts to understand the rheological characteristics of cryogenic slurries, using a 40% methanol–water mixture, as a precursor to more detailed experiments. We have devised a new automated cryogenic rotational viscometer system to more fully characterize cryovolcanic slurry rheologies. A series of measurements were performed, varying first temperature, and then strain rate, which revealed development of yield stress-like behaviors, shear-rate dependence, and thixotropic behavior, even at relatively low crystal fractions, not previously reported. At fixed shear rate our data are fit well by the Andrade equation, with the activation energy modified by a solid volume fraction. At fixed temperature, depending on shearing history, a Cross model could describe our data over a wide shear rate range. A Bingham plastic model appears to be a good constitutive model for the data measured at high shear rates when the shear was global. The yield stress like behavior implies that levee formation on cryolava flows is more likely than would be inferred from the previous studies, and may provide a partial explanation for features interpreted as steep-sided volcanic constructs on Titan. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]