Evidence of Titan's Climate History from Evaporite Distribution

Abstract

Water-ice-poor, 5-$\mu$m-bright material on Saturn's moon Titan has previously been geomorphologically identified as evaporitic. Here we present a global distribution of the occurrences of the 5-$\mu$m-bright spectral unit, identified with Cassini's Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and examined with RADAR when possible. We explore the possibility that each of these occurrences are evaporite deposits. The 5-$\mu$m-bright material covers 1\% of Titan's surface and is not limited to the poles (the only regions with extensive, long-lived surface liquid). We find the greatest areal concentration to be in the equatorial basins Tui Regio and Hotei Regio. Our interpretations, based on the correlation between 5-$\mu$m-bright material and lakebeds, imply that there was enough liquid present at some time to create the observed 5-$\mu$m-bright material. We address the climate implications surrounding a lack of evaporitic material at the south polar basins: if the south pole basins were filled at some point in the past, then where is the evaporite?

References in corpus (2)

• Global circulation as the main source of cloud activity on Titan
• Cassini/VIMS hyperspectral observations of the HUYGENS landing site on Titan

Cited by in corpus (14)

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• Geomorphologic Mapping of Titan's Polar Terrains: Constraining Surface Processes and Landscape Evolution
• Structure of Titan's evaporites
• Mapping polar atmospheric features on Titan with VIMS: from the dissipation of the northern cloud to the onset of a southern polar vortex
• Meridional variation in tropospheric methane on Titan observed with AO spectroscopy at Keck and VLT
• The Cassini VIMS archive of Titan: from browse products to global infrared color maps
• Titan Science with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
• Where does Titan Sand Come From: Insight from Mechanical Properties of Titan Sand Candidates
• Compositional Similarities and Distinctions between Titan's Evaporitic Terrains
• Material Properties of Organic Liquids, Ices, and Hazes on Titan
• Distribution and intensity of water ice signature in south Xanadu and Tui Regio
• Experimental Study of Ethylene Evaporites under Titan Conditions
• Vertical compositional variations of liquid hydrocarbons in Titan's alkanofers