Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly
Selk crater is an ∼80 km diameter impact crater on the Saturnian icy satellite Titan. Melt pools associated with impact craters like Selk provide environments where liquid water and organics can mix and produce biomolecules like amino acids. It is partly for this reason that the Selk region has been...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbe40 |
| _version_ | 1797328473908314112 |
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| author | Shigeru Wakita Brandon C. Johnson Jason M. Soderblom Jahnavi Shah Catherine D. Neish Jordan K. Steckloff |
| author_facet | Shigeru Wakita Brandon C. Johnson Jason M. Soderblom Jahnavi Shah Catherine D. Neish Jordan K. Steckloff |
| author_sort | Shigeru Wakita |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Selk crater is an ∼80 km diameter impact crater on the Saturnian icy satellite Titan. Melt pools associated with impact craters like Selk provide environments where liquid water and organics can mix and produce biomolecules like amino acids. It is partly for this reason that the Selk region has been selected as the area that NASA’s Dragonfly mission will explore and address one of its primary goals: to search for biological signatures on Titan. Here we simulate Selk-sized impact craters on Titan to better understand the formation of Selk and its melt pool. We consider several structures for the icy target material by changing the thickness of the methane clathrate layer, which has a substantial effect on the target thermal structure and crater formation. Our numerical results show that a 4 km diameter impactor produces a Selk-sized crater when 5–15 km thick methane clathrate layers are considered. We confirm the production of melt pools in these cases and find that the melt volumes are similar regardless of methane clathrate layer thickness. The distribution of the melted material, however, is sensitive to the thickness of the methane clathrate layer. In the case of a 10–15 km thick methane clathrate layer, the melt pool appears as a torus-like shape that is a few kilometers deep, and as a shallower layer in the case of a 5 km thick clathrate layer. Melt pools of this thickness may take tens of thousands of years to freeze, allowing more time for complex organics to form. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T06:52:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0fcb431ae504078aeba993b5fd9fcbf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T06:52:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0fcb431ae504078aeba993b5fd9fcbf2024-02-03T06:48:00ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382023-01-01435110.3847/PSJ/acbe40Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for DragonflyShigeru Wakita0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3161-3454Brandon C. Johnson1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4267-093XJason M. Soderblom2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3715-6407Jahnavi Shah3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7535-663XCatherine D. Neish4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3254-8348Jordan K. Steckloff5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1717-2226Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA ; shigeru@mit.edu; Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051, USADepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , West Lafayette, IN 47907-2036, USADepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA ; shigeru@mit.eduDepartment of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario , London, ON, N6A 5B7, CanadaDepartment of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario , London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada; The Planetary Science Institute , Tucson, AZ 85719, USAThe Planetary Science Institute , Tucson, AZ 85719, USASelk crater is an ∼80 km diameter impact crater on the Saturnian icy satellite Titan. Melt pools associated with impact craters like Selk provide environments where liquid water and organics can mix and produce biomolecules like amino acids. It is partly for this reason that the Selk region has been selected as the area that NASA’s Dragonfly mission will explore and address one of its primary goals: to search for biological signatures on Titan. Here we simulate Selk-sized impact craters on Titan to better understand the formation of Selk and its melt pool. We consider several structures for the icy target material by changing the thickness of the methane clathrate layer, which has a substantial effect on the target thermal structure and crater formation. Our numerical results show that a 4 km diameter impactor produces a Selk-sized crater when 5–15 km thick methane clathrate layers are considered. We confirm the production of melt pools in these cases and find that the melt volumes are similar regardless of methane clathrate layer thickness. The distribution of the melted material, however, is sensitive to the thickness of the methane clathrate layer. In the case of a 10–15 km thick methane clathrate layer, the melt pool appears as a torus-like shape that is a few kilometers deep, and as a shallower layer in the case of a 5 km thick clathrate layer. Melt pools of this thickness may take tens of thousands of years to freeze, allowing more time for complex organics to form.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbe40TitanSaturnian satellitesPlanetary surfacesImpact phenomenaMethane |
| spellingShingle | Shigeru Wakita Brandon C. Johnson Jason M. Soderblom Jahnavi Shah Catherine D. Neish Jordan K. Steckloff Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly The Planetary Science Journal Titan Saturnian satellites Planetary surfaces Impact phenomena Methane |
| title | Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly |
| title_full | Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly |
| title_fullStr | Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly |
| title_short | Modeling the Formation of Selk Impact Crater on Titan: Implications for Dragonfly |
| title_sort | modeling the formation of selk impact crater on titan implications for dragonfly |
| topic | Titan Saturnian satellites Planetary surfaces Impact phenomena Methane |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbe40 |
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