On the chemical composition of Titan¡¯s dry lakebed evaporites

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：D. Cordier ; J.W. Barnes ; A.G. Ferreira
• 关键词：Satellites ; surfaces ; Saturn ; satellites ; Titan ; Titan ; hydrology ; Titan ; surface ; Prebiotic environments
• 刊名：Icarus
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：November-December, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：226
• 期：2
• 页码：1431-1437
• 全文大小：367 K

文摘

Titan, the main satellite of Saturn, has an active cycle of methane in its troposphere. Among other evidence for a mechanism of evaporation at work on the ground, dry lakebeds have been discovered. Recent Cassini infrared observations of these empty lakes have revealed a surface composition poor in water ice compared to that of the surrounding terrains¡ªsuggesting the existence of organic evaporites deposits. The chemical composition of these possible evaporites is unknown. In this paper, we study evaporite composition using a model that treats both organic solids dissolution and solvent evaporation. Our results suggest the possibility of large abundances of butane and acetylene in the lake evaporites. However, due to uncertainties of the employed theory, these determinations have to be confirmed by laboratory experiments.