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Just a few months after scientists presented tantalizing evidence of ice volcanoes reshaping the surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, a new study is throwing some cold water on the prospect.
In the new study, a team of scientists say Titan's identifiable surface features were likely created by weather or other external forces — meteorite strikes, wind and rain — rather than volcanic activity. This suggests that the huge moon's interior may be cool and dormant, incapable of causing active ice volcanoes, also known as cryovolcanoes. [Photos: The Rings and Moons of Saturn]
"It would be fantastic to find strong evidence that clearly shows Titan has an internal heat source that causes ice volcanoes and lava flows to form," said study lead author Jeff Moore, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., in a statement released Thursday (April 7). "But we find that the evidence presented to date is unconvincing, and recent studies of Titan's interior conducted by geophysicists and gravity experts also weaken the possibility of volcanoes there."
In the new study, a team of scientists say Titan's identifiable surface features were likely created by weather or other external forces — meteorite strikes, wind and rain — rather than volcanic activity. This suggests that the huge moon's interior may be cool and dormant, incapable of causing active ice volcanoes, also known as cryovolcanoes. [Photos: The Rings and Moons of Saturn]
"It would be fantastic to find strong evidence that clearly shows Titan has an internal heat source that causes ice volcanoes and lava flows to form," said study lead author Jeff Moore, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., in a statement released Thursday (April 7). "But we find that the evidence presented to date is unconvincing, and recent studies of Titan's interior conducted by geophysicists and gravity experts also weaken the possibility of volcanoes there."
