Titan's bulk composition constrained by Cassini-Huygens: Implication for internal outgassing

Details Titan's bulk composition constrained by Cassini-Huygens: Implication for internal outgassing Titan's bulk composition constrained by Cassini-Huygens: Implication for internal outgassing

Oct 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011epsc.conf..733t&link_type=abstract

EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011, held 2-7 October 2011 in Nantes, France. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc-dps2011, p.733

Computer Science

Scientific paper

By using the data gathered by the Cassini-Huygens mission and experimental constraints on gas stability in water-rich environments, we provide upper and lower limits for the bulk content of Titan's interior for various gas species (CH4, CO2, CO, NH3, H2S, Ar, Ne, Xe). We show that most of the gas compounds (except H2S and Xe) initially incorporated within Titan are likely stored dissolved in the subsurface water ocean. Our calculations indicate that the most abundant gas species is CO2 (up to 4 % of Titan's total mass) and that the ammonia mass fraction should not exceed 0.5% (much less that what is commonly considered in evolution models). We predict that only a moderate fraction of CH4, CO2 and CO should be incorporated in the crust in the form of clathrate hydrates. By contrast, most of the H2S and Xe should be incorporated at the base of the subsurface ocean, in the form of heavy clathrate hydrates within the high-pressure ice layer. Moreover, we show that the rocky phase of Titan is a likely source for the noble gas isotopes (40Ar, 36Ar, 22Ne) that have been detected in the atmosphere. Our calculations show that a moderate outgassing of methane containing traces of neon and argon would be sufficient to explain the abundance estimated by the GCMS. The extraction process may explain why the 22Ne/36Ar ratio in Titan's atmosphere appears higher than the ratio in carbonaceous chondrites.

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