Posted on 04/21/2014 9:57:50 AM PDT by lbryce
Orginal Title:Study of Equatorial Ridge on Iapetus Suggests Exogenic Origin
You Really Don't Prefer The Original Title, Do You?
A combined team of researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island and the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas is suggesting in a paper they've uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, that an equatorial mountainous ridge on one of Saturn's moons has an exogenic origin. They are basing their theory on 3D models of the moon they've created and an analysis of the types of peaks present.
Iapetus, the 3rd largest of Saturn's approximately 60 moons, is distinct for two reasons. One is its odd two-tone coloring; the other is the back-bone looking mountain range straddling part of its equator. Scientists have been puzzled by the origin of the mountain range as the moon doesn't have other geologic qualities that could have given rise to it, such as shifting plates or volcanic activity. Thus, some have suggested that the mountains came from above, rather than below, or in other words, they have an exogenic origin, meaning they came from somewhere else.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Fascinating - thanks for the post.
...
They found that the majority of the peaks sat in what is known as their angle of repose, which is the maximum angle at which material can rest on a peak without falling down to its base. Normal geologic activity tends to create peaks that are shallower and have less uniformity. This suggests, the researchers claim, that the mountains did not form due to geologic activity but more likely are part of a ring of material that once circled the moon and was pulled down to the surface.
A ring around the moon would most likely have come about due to a collision, either between another body and the moon, or two other bodies nearby. The resulting material would have formed a ring around the equator which over time, would have been pulled to the surface by gravity. Such a theory, the team notes, would also explain Iapetus’s asymmetrical orbit and also why it orbits with the same face pointing at Saturn all of the time.
Verse 1:
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonderConsider all the works Thy hand hath made.I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,Thy power throughout the universe displayed.Refrain: Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;How great Thou art, how great Thou art!Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:How great Thou art, how great Thou art!Verse 2:
When through the woods and forest glades I wanderAnd hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;When I look down from lofty mountain grandeurAnd hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:(Repeat Refrain.)Verse 3:
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,He bled and died to take away my sin:(Repeat Refrain.)Verse 4:
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamationAnd take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!Then I shall bow in humble adoration,And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!(Repeat Refrain.)
one big hickey
lol
How did the equatorial ridge on Saturn’s moon Iapetus form?
Looking at the moon in NASA Eyes on the Solar system. It looks like there are at least 3 of those features but I think they may actually be large craters.
I made some chocolate cookies that came out looking like that.
Iapetus is tidally locked, which means that one side constantly faces the Sun. I’d have to wonder if that has something to do with it, meaning that Saturn’s gravity is squishing Iapetus like pressing down on a racquetball and causing the bulging seam to appear.
Sure has a lot of scars
Beautiful....I don’t know. No Waffle House in sight.....
Something like a carpet in too small a room?
Beautiful pix. Thanks for posting.
Extremely large voles.
That rectangular chunk of Swiss cheese and the holes that on my home world lead to huge caverns, storage areas for my people always gets me homesick for the days of my youth on Iapetus.
While I do fantasize gliding, careening through the hilly mountainous ridge on that funky, bizarre moon world of Iapetus, but I know, quite sadly and forlornly that like Boehner ever lifting his butt(er) cheeks just once to say, do something in defiance of the Fudgepacker-in-Chief, either of those two fantasies is not likely to occur in my lifetime or any lifetime.
Nice! Thanks lbryce. This looks like a two-list topic. Extra to APoD.
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Yes. Awesome post lbryce! Thanks for the ping SunkenCiv.
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