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Rosaly Lopes

Principal Scientist
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109

Titan: Geology of Titan as revealed by the Cassini RADAR, with emphasis on cryovolcanism

Io: Volcanism on Io, with emphasis on results from Galileo NIMS (Near-Infrared mapping Spectrometer)

Title 1: The Surface of Titan: Results from Cassini-Huygens

Abstract 1:

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper is one of the prime instruments investigating Titan's surface from orbit. Titan has shown itself to be an intriguing object for study, with a variety of unusual candidate materials such as water-ammonia and other ices, hydrocarbons, and tholins. Because of its almost opaque atmosphere, microwave remote sensing contributes uniquely to that investigation. The Titan Radar Mapper operates as a passive radiometer, scatterometer, altimeter, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR). This talk will review the results obtained so far, which include four fly-bys during which the SAR mode was used to image Titan's surface. SAR images revealed that Titan is very geologically complex, including large craters, features that are interpreted as cryovolcanic in origin, and radar-bright braided and sinuous channels, apparently draining into a plain. Other landforms include dark lineated streaks, nicknamed "cat scratches" which are thought to have been formed by aeolian transport and accumulation. The flybys of 2006 and 2007 revealed numerous lakes close to the north pole, indicating that surface liquids (methane and ethane) may be present. Titan appears to be very Earth-like in its geology, despite the very different surface conditions and composition.

Title 2: Jupiter's Moon Io, a World of Great Volcanoes

Abstract 2:

Jupiter's moon Io is the only place outside the Earth where active volcanoes are rampant. Some of the most exciting discoveries from the Galileo mission and, more recently, from the New Horizons fly-by of Jupiter, have been about Io's many volcanoes. The lavas they erupt are perhaps as hot as those erupted on Earth billions of years ago, making Io a possible window into the Earth's volcanic past. Eruption styles range from lava flows to lava lakes and violent eruptions that erupt great plumes. The volcanic plumes on Io can reach hundreds of kilometers - one of Galileo's Io fly-bys brought it close to a 500 km-high plume. The Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer on Galileo provided unprecedented results about the eruption styles and deposits of this very peculiar and colorful moon. This talk will review Galileo and recent New Horizons results.