Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.p72b0496l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #P72B-0496
Physics
5418 Heat Flow, 5430 Interiors (8147), 5455 Origin And Evolution, 5475 Tectonics (8149)
Scientific paper
Titan's surface will be very different from those of the Galileans, not just because of interactions with the atmosphere, but because the internal evolution will have been unique. The incorporation of ammonia in the ices making up Titan will make the evolution of Titan's interior structure very different. The presence of ammonia was previously only hinted at by formation models and the remarkably thick nitrogen atmosphere. However, recent radar observations showing Iapetus' bright face to be surprisingly radar-dark also point to incorporation of ammonia in the ices of the Saturnian satellites, explaining Titan's radar-darkness too. Ammonia will have several effects. As is well-known, its freezing-point depression to 176K makes a liquid layer ('internal ocean') more likely. A significant difference compared with the Galileans is that the greater expansivity of ammonia solutions compared with pure water causes the adiabat to be steeper, and thus a greater temperature difference prevails across the liquid layer. This in turn leads to a higher Carnot efficiency for the mantle heat engine - by an order of magnitude compared with Callisto - suggesting endogenic activity may be more manifest on Titan than on its Galilean cousins. The replenishment of methane in Titan's atmosphere against photolysis requires either surface lakes, or volcanic replenishment. If plausible methane contents of water-ammonia cryolavas are assumed, the heat flux associated with volcanism can be easily accommodated by the expected radiogenic heat production in the rocky core.
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