Sand dunes on Titan are exactly the same on Earth

The sand dunes on the surface of Titan, Saturn's moon, are shaped like sand dunes, even very much like the deserts on Earth.

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Images from NASA's Cassini probe show that these sand dunes are rich in shape, over 90m high and 1.5km wider. However, they are composed of solid hydrocarbons, chemicals found in crude oil, not sand.

Model of giant sand dunes on Titan

Sand dunes are the second dominant terrain on Titan, covering more than 6 million square kilometers, equivalent to the size of the United States. Therefore, their formation could help scientists better understand the strange environment of this clouded planet.

Although similar in shape, Titan's sand dunes are far more massive than the Arabian or Namibian sand dunes on Earth. They average an average of 1-2 km, hundreds of kilometers long, and about 100m high. However, their different sizes and distances show that the environment they form and develop.

Using data from the exploration ship, Alice Le Gall, a former postdoctoral researcher at NASA and his collaborative rocket engine laboratory, found the size of Titan sand dunes under control by at least 2 factors: altitude and latitude. The higher the sand dunes, the thinner and farther away.

Each season on Titan lasts about 7 years. Due to Saturn's elliptical orbit, Titan's southern hemisphere has shorter summers but is warmer, resulting in lower humidity. The drier sand grains are easily washed away by the wind to form sand dunes.

Le Gall said: 'As these grains of sand move north, we believe that the moisture on the surface increases, making it harder for sand molecules to move. As a result, it is difficult to form sand dunes'.