From Xanadu Around and Back: A ca. 11,000 km Journey of Windblown Sand Revealed by Global Dune Patterns on Titan
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Extensive dune fields nearly encircle the equatorial regions of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Dunes evolve in response to environmental change, offering a record of recent geologic and climate history. A global analysis reveals that Titan's dunes become more narrowly spaced and increasingly more regular along a continuous eastward transport path, starting east of the Xanadu region, around the equator, and terminating abruptly at Xanadu's western margin. Xanadu is a rugged, tectonically active, water‐ice‐rich region with low topography and a thin layer of atmospherically deposited organic‐rich material. Our results demonstrate that windblown grains must withstand long transport distances. Furthermore, environmental conditions along the eastern margin of Xanadu set a template over which dunes evolve, only gradually modified as sediment supply or availability increases downwind. Together, these results highlight the oversized impact that Xanadu has on Titan's dune fields, which in turn play a critical role in regulating Titan's sedimentary and carbon cycles.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl112760
Authors: M. Colin Marvin, Mathieu G. A. Lapôtre, Jani Radebaugh, Wen Bo
Language: English
Topic: Astro and Planetary Science
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W4408310762