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1.
Variations and spatial distributions of bright and dark material on dwarf planet Ceres play a key role in understanding the processes that have led to its present surface composition. We define limits for “bright” and “dark” material in order to distinguish them consistently, based on the reflectance of the average surface using Dawn Framing Camera data. A systematic classification of four types of bright material is presented based on their spectral properties, composition, spatial distribution, and association with specific geomorphological features. We found obvious correlations of reflectance with spectral shape (slopes) and age; however, this is not unique throughout the bright spots. Although impact features show generally more extreme reflectance variations, several areas can only be understood in terms of inhomogeneous distribution of composition as inferred from Dawn Visible and Infrared Spectrometer data. Additional material with anomalous composition and spectral properties are rare. The identification of the composition and origin of the dark, particularly the darkest material, remains to be explored. The spectral properties and the morphology of the dark sites suggest an endogenic origin, but it is not clear whether they are more or less primitive surficial exposures or excavated subsurface but localized material. The reflectance, spectral properties, inferred composition, and geologic context collectively suggest that the bright and dark material tends to gradually change toward the average surface over time. This could be because of multiple processes, i.e., impact gardening/space weathering, and lateral mixing, including thermal and aqueous alteration, accompanied by changes in composition and physical properties such as grain size, surface temperature, and porosity (compaction).  相似文献   

2.
This paper presents new photometric and spectrophotometric observations of the dark (leading) hemisphere of Saturn's satellite Iapetus. Spectrophotometry from 0.3–1.0 um (May 1979) shows the dark hemisphere to be very red, similar to a few asteroids and the Moon, but with no spectral features attributable to olivine or pyroxene. Near-infrared spectrophometry in the regions 1.4–2.5 um (May 1981) and 3.0–3.8 um (February 1981) reveals water ice absorption bands, probably resulting from the polar caps intruding onto the dark hemisphere. The reflectance of Iapetus is unlike that of carbonaceous chondrites or C-type asteroids and most closely resembles the reflectance (and low albedo) of carbonaceous (organic) residue from the Murchison C2 carbonaceous chondrite. The Murchison material has the same red slope and a probable spectral feature near 0.6 um seen in Iapetus data. Three hypotheses for the formation of the dark hemisphere are discussed in light of the observational data. The favored hypothesis is that debris from Phoebe or other unknown outer satellites of Saturn impacts the dark hemisphere of Iapetus as Poynting-Robertson drag causes the debris to spiral toward Saturn. The high-velocity impacts preferentially remove ice from the satellite's surface, causing enrichment of included carbonaceous material intrinsic to Iapetus. The reflectance of Phoebe itself is significantly different from that of Iapetus, suggesting that relatively little Phoebe debris lies on the dark hemisphere. There remains the possibility that the impacting debris originates from another body of composition similar to the Murchison residue and that this material is exposed on the surface of Iapetus.  相似文献   

3.
William K. Hartmann 《Icarus》1980,44(2):441-453
Observational and theoretical data converge on the conclusion that planetesimals in Jupiter's region of the solar nebula were initially composed predominantly of a mixture of roughly 39–70% H2O ice by volume, and 30–61% dark stony material resembling carbonaceous chondrites. Recent observations emphasize a division of most asteroid and satellite surfaces in this region into two distinct groups: bright icy material and dark stony material. The present model accounts for these by two main processes: an impact-induced buildup of a dark stony regolith in the absence of surface thermal disturbance, and thermal-disturbance-induced eruption of “water magmas” that create icy surfaces. “Thermal disturbances” include tidal and radiative effects caused by nearness of a planet. A correlation of crater density and albedo, Ganymede's dark-ray craters, and other observed phenomena (listed in the summary) appear consistent with the model discussed here.  相似文献   

4.
D.B. Nash  T.V. Johnson 《Icarus》1979,38(1):69-74
A visual albedo distribution model for all hemispheres of Io's surface has been synthesized from available Earth-based and spacecraft image and photometric data. The resulting model indicates some interesting patterns and symmetries on Io's surface: The dark polar caps are shifted off Io's rotational axis and are eliptical rather than circular in shape, with extensions toward the sub-Jupiter and anti-Jupiter points on Io; equatorial bright areas are located approximately on a great circle about Io, the plane of which is tilted approximately 15° toward Io longitude 60°. These and other indicated features may be clues to understanding the endogenic and exogenic processes that have resulted in Io's present observed surface characteristics.  相似文献   

5.
Infrared spectrophotometric measurements of Neptune's satellite Triton obtained between 1980 and 1982 in the spectral range 0.8–2.5 μm show six individual absorption bands attributable to methane. An additional band in the Triton data is not methane. The Triton spectral data conform more closely to a laboratory spectrum of frozen methane than to a synthetic spectrum of methane gas computed for conditions of low temperature expected at the satellite. Additionally, the strength of the bands vary with Triton's orbital position. The data thus suggest that methane in the ice phase is mostly responsible for the bands in Triton's spectrum, and that the ice is distributed nonuniformly around the satellite's surface.  相似文献   

6.
Estimates of tidal damping times of the orbital eccentricities of Saturn's inner satellites place constraints on some satellite rigidities and dissipation functions Q. These constraints favor rock-like rather than ice-like properties for Mimas and probably Dione. Photometric and other observational data are consistent with relatively higher densities for these two satellites, but require lower densities for Tethys, Enceladus, and Rhea. This leads to a nonmonotonic density distribution for Saturn's inner satellites, apparently determined by different mass fractions of rocky materials. In spite of the consequences of tidal dissipation for the orbital eccentricity decay and implications for satellite compositions, tidal heating is not an important contributor to the thermal history of any Saturnian satellite.  相似文献   

7.
Since one does not know the photometric functions of various parts of Io, one cannot convert the observed geometric albedo of the satellite to a parameter more directly measurable in the laboratory. One must therefore convert laboratory reflectances to geometric albedos before quantitative comparisons between Io's surface and a laboratory sample are made. This procedure involves determining the wavelength dependence of the sample's photometric function. For substances such as sulfur, whose reflectance varies strongly with wavelength, it is incorrect to assume that the photometric function, and hence the ratio (laboratory reflectance/geometric albedo) is independent of wavelength. To illustrate this point, measurements of the color dependence of this ratio for sulfur are presented for the specific case in which the measured laboratory reflectance is the sample's normal reflectance. In general, unless the laboratory reflectance is precisely the geometric albedo, a wavelength-dependent correction factor must be determined before the laboratory sample can be compared quantitatively with Io's surface.  相似文献   

8.
M.T. Zuber  E.M. Parmentier 《Icarus》1984,60(1):200-210
A visual nonalignment of the furrows and the circularity of impact craters are used to study surface deformation on Ganymede. The furrow system is examined to test the hypothesis that lateral motion has taken place between areas of dark terrain. Results show that while lateral motion cannot be ruled out, it may not be required to explain the geometry of the system. Initial nonconcentricity of the furrows or an early period of penetrative deformation shortly after furrow formation could also account for the present configuration. Centers of curvature of the furrows in Galileo and Marius Regiones are numerically determined and it is shown that if lateral movement did occur, it is not possible to determine the amount of displacement. The axial ratios of impact craters in the Uruk Sulcus region which separates Galileo and Marius Regiones are determined and show that large scale shear deformation has not occured in that area since bright terrain was emplaced. Deformation of impact craters within Galileo Regio suggests that Ganymede's lithosphere has behaved rigidly throughout most of the satellite's evolution. The shapes and orientations of impact craters in dark terrain around wedges of bright terrain are used to place an upper limit on the amount of extension associated with bright terrain formation.  相似文献   

9.
Baerbel K. Lucchita 《Icarus》1980,44(2):481-501
The icy crust of Ganymede comprises bright and dark areas. Investigation of Voyager 1 and 2 images has shown that bright terrain is grooved and separates dark polygons of cratered terrain. The grooved terrain contains alternating ridges and grooves in straight and curvilinear sets, which are locally interrupted by smooth patches and swaths. Cratered terrain, where 'it occurs in small wedges and slivers, has a pervasive grain of narrowly spaced furrows, and thus is transitional to grooved terrain. An analysis of the morphology of terrain types, and of superposition and cross-cutting relations, suggests that grooved terrain grew at the expense of cratered terrain, that tracts of cratered terrain were converted into grooved terrain in situ, and that vertical tectonism and shear movements dominated in the restructuring of Ganymede's surface. It is postulated that during a period in the planet's history when the lithosphere was thin, upwelling convection currents caused incipient rifting accompanied by intensive normal faulting; where rifting went to completion, crustal segments separated, locally spread apart, and sheared past one another. In places subduction and compression may have occured, but the evidence is inconclusive. Thus, the grooved terrain on Ganymede may record an early phase of ice-plate tectonics that caused rifting and drifting of the icy lithosphere, but, unlike silicate plate tectonics on Earth, may have resulted in only minor vertical turnover.  相似文献   

10.
Six-color photometric observations made during Saturn's 1972/73 opposition enable us to separate the solar phase and orbital phase contributions to the observed light variations of Iapetus, Titan, Rhea, Dione and Tethys. Titan shows no orbital variations, but has phase coefficients which range from negligible values in the infrared to 0.014mag/deg in the ultraviolet. Rhea has a bright leading side, a light curve amplitude of about 0.2mag, which increases toward short wavelengths, and surprisingly large phase coefficients, which increase from 0.025mag/deg in the red to 0.037mag/deg in the ultraviolet. Combined with other available information, this behavior suggests a very porous, texturally complex surface layer. Dione also has a leading side which is a few tenths of a magnitude brighter than the trailing side, but the light curve amplitude has little wavelength dependence and the phase coefficients are significantly smaller than those of Rhea, suggesting a less intricate surface texture. The leading side of Tethys is probably a few tenths of a magnitude brighter than the trailing side. Our Iapetus observations generally supplement the earlier work by Millis. The phase coefficients of the bright (trailing) side are typically ～0.03mag/deg and are not strongly wavelength dependent; the dark (leading) side coefficients are large (～0.05 mag/deg) and increase at shorter wavelengths, indicating a very porous and intricate surface texture. The light curve amplitude shows a slight increase at shorter wavelengths, suggesting an increasing contrast between the dark and bright materials. The spectral reflectance curves we derive for the satellites are in agreement with the spectrophotometry of McCord, Johnson, and Elias.  相似文献   

11.
J. Veverka  P. Thomas  Carl Sagan 《Icarus》1978,36(1):147-152
R. O. Kuzmin has proposed that all crater-associated wind streaks on Mars are depositional and consist of unresolved barchan-like dunes. He claims that any streak can appear either bright or dark relative to its surroundings depending on the azimuth of the Sun relative to the streak axis and on the elevation of the Sun above the horizon. Our studies of the entire Mariner 9 picture collection as well as of available Viking data lend no support to these ideas. We find that the conditions for visibility of bright and dark streaks are identical. In Mariner 9 images both types of streaks are visible for viewing angles ? ? 60°, illumination angles of 15° ? i ? 75°, and over the whole range of phase angles covered (about 15 to 85°). There are numerous examples of dark and light streaks visible at the same azimuth angle of the Sun, contrary to Kuzmin's claim. There is much evidence to indicate that bright and dark streaks differ both in morphology and in character. The common ragged dark streaks are probably erosion scars, while most bright streaks probably represent accumulations of bright dust-storm fallout. There is no evidence at present that these accumulations have a barchan-like texture.  相似文献   

12.
We have obtained reflectivity spectra of the trailing and leading sides of all four Galilean satellites with circular variable filter wheel spectrometers operating in the 0.7- to 5.5-μm spectral interval. These observations were obtained at an altitude of 41,000 ft from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Features seen in these data include a 2.9-μm band present in the spectra of both sides of Callisto; the well-known 1.5-μm and 2.0-μm combination bands and the previously more poorly defined 3.1-μm fundamental of water ice observed in the spectra of both sides of Europa and Ganymede; and features centered at 1.35 ± 0.1, 2.55 ± 0.1, and 4.05 ± 0.05 μm noted in the spectra of both sides of Io. In an effort to interpret these data, we have compared them with laboratory spectra as well as synthetic spectra constructed with a simple multiple-scattering theory. We attribute the 2.9-μm feature of Callisto's spectra primarily to bound water, with the product of fractional abundance of bound water and mean grain radius in micrometers equaling approximately 3.5 × 10?1 for both sides of the satellite. The fractional amounts of water ice cover on the trailing side of Ganymede, its leading side, and the leading side of Europa were found to be 50 ± 15, 65 ± 15, and 85% or greater, respectively. The bare ground areas on Ganymede have reflectivity properties in the 0.7- to 2.5-μm spectral region comparable to those of Callisto's surface and also have significant quantities of bound water, as does Callisto. Interpretation of the spectrum for the trailing side of Europa is complicated by magnetospheric particle bombardment which causes a perceptible broadening of strong bands, but the ice cover on this side is probably comparable to that on the leading side. These irradiation effects may be responsible for much of the difference in the visual geometric albedos of the two sides of Europa. Minor, but significant, amounts of ferrous-bearing material (either ferrous salts or alkali feldspars but not olivines or pyroxenes) account for the 1.35-μm feature of Io. The two longer wavelength bands are most likely attributable to nitrate salts. Ferrous salts and nitrates can jointly also account for much of the spectral variation in Io's visible reflectivity, thereby eliminating the need to postulate large quantities of sulfur. The absence of noticeable features near 3-μm wavelength in Io's spectra leads to upper bounds of 10% on the fractional cover of water and ammonia ice and 10?3 on the relative abundance of bound water and hydroxylated material on Io. The two sides of Io have similar compositions. We suggest that the systematic increase in fractional water ice cover from Callisto to Ganymede to Europa is bought about by variations in efficiencies of recoating the satellite's surface by interior water brought to the surface, and by the deposition of extrinsic dust. The most important component of the latter is debris, derived from the outer irregular satellites of Jupiter, which impacts the Galilean satellites at relatively low velocities. Europa has the largest water ice cover because its crust is thinnest and thus the frequency of water recoating is the greatest, and because it is farthest from the sources of low-velocity dust. While models which depict Io's surface as consisting primarily of very fine-grained ice are no longer viable, we are unable to definitively distinguish between the salt assemblage and alkali feldspar models. The salt model can better account for Io's reflectivity spectrum from 0.3 to 5 μm, but the absence of appreciable quantities of bound water and hydroxylated material may not be readily understood within the context of that model.  相似文献   

13.
New near-infrared reflectance spectra are presented for Ariel and Umbriel. Water ice on the surface of Ariel and Umbriel is verified from spectral signatures in the 2-μm region. However, the weaker bands in Umbriel's spectrum indicate that its surface is significantly different from Ariel either in degree of contamination with dark material or in microstate. Umbriel may have a lower albedo than Ariel, Titania, and Oberon and, therefore, may have a diameter comparable to that of Titania.  相似文献   

14.
Interfacial liquid water has been hypothesized to form during the seasonal evolution of the dark dune spots observed in the high latitudes of Mars. In this study we assess the presence, nature and properties of ices - in particular water ice - that occur within these spots using HIRISE and CRISM observations, as well as the LMD Global Climate Model. Our studies focus on Richardson crater (72°S, 179°E) and cover southern spring and summer (LS=175-341°). Three units have been identified of these spots: dark core, gray ring and bright halo. Each unit show characteristic changes as the season progress. In winter, the whole area is covered by CO2 ice with H2O ice contamination. Dark spots form during late winter and early spring. During spring, the dark spots are located in a 10 cm thick depression compared to the surrounding bright ice-rich layer. They are spectrally characterized by weak CO2 ice signatures that probably result from spatial mixing of CO2 ice-rich and ice-free regions within pixels, and from mixing of surface signatures due to aerosols scattering. The bright halo shaped by winds shows stronger CO2 absorptions than the average ice-covered terrain, which is consistent with a formation process involving CO2 re-condensation. According to spectral, morphological and modeling considerations, the gray ring is composed of a thin layer of a few tens of μm of water ice. Two sources/processes could participate to the enrichment of water ice in the gray ring unit: (i) water ice condensation at the surface in early fall (prior to the condensation of a CO2-rich winter layer) or during wintertime (due to cold trapping of the CO2 layer) and (ii) ejection of dust grains surrounded by water ice by the geyser activity responsible for the dark spot. In any case, water ice remains longer in the gray ring unit after the complete sublimation of the CO2. Finally, we also looked for liquid water in the near-IR CRISM spectra using linear unmixing modeling but found no conclusive evidence for it.  相似文献   

15.
The spectral reflectance from 0.38 to 0.75 μm of a column of liquid sulfur has been measured at several temperatures between the melting point (～118°C) and 173°C. Below 160°C the spectral reflectance was observed to vary reversibly as a function of temperature, independent of the previous thermal history of the column. Once the temperature exceeded 160°C, the spectrum would not change given a subsequent decrease in temperature. The spectral reflectance of the liquid-sulfur column at all temperatures was very low (10–19%). Combining this information with Voyager spectrophotometry of Jupiter's satellite Io, it is concluded that liquid sulfur at any temperature on Io's surface would be classified as a “black area” according to the standards used by the Voyager imaging team in their spectrophotometric analysis (L. Soderblom, T. V. Johnson, D. Morrison, E. Danielson, B. L. Smith, J. Veverka, A. Cook, C. Sagan, P. Kupferman, D. Pieri, J. Mosher, C. Avis, J. Gradie, and T. Clancy (1980). Geophys. Res. Lett.7, 963–966).  相似文献   

16.
L. Trafton 《Icarus》1984,58(2):312-324
Triton's seasons differ materially from those of Pluto owing to four important differences in the governing physics: First, the obliquity of Triton is significantly less than Pluto's obliquity. Second, Triton's inclined orbit precesses rapidly about Neptune so that a complicated seasonal variation in the latitude of the Sun occurs for Triton. Third, Neptune's orbit is much more circular than Pluto's orbit so that the sunlight intercepted by Triton's disk does not vary seasonally. Finally, Triton's atmosphere cannot be saturated at the lower latitudes so that the mass of the atmosphere is controlled by the temperature of the high-latitude ices or liquids (polar caps), as for CO2 on Mars. The consequences of Triton's entire surface being covered with volatile substances have been examined. It is found that the circularity of Neptune's orbit then implies that Triton would have hardly any seasonal variation at all in surface temperature or atmospheric bulk, in spite of the complicated precessional effects of Triton's orbit. The only seasonal effect would be the migration of surface ices and liquids. This scenario is ruled out because it implies a column CH4 abundance much higher than that observed and because it quickly depletes the lower latitudes of volatiles. It is concluded that Triton's most volatile surface substances are probably relegated to latitudes higher than 35° and probably form polar caps. The temperature of the polar caps should be nearly equal, even during midwinter/midsummer when the insolation of the summer pole is greatest. If the summer pole completely sublimates during one of the “major” summers, Triton's atmosphere may begin to freeze out over the winter caps. It is therefore expected that Triton's atmosphere undergoes large and complex seasonal variations. Triton is currently approaching a “maximum southern summer”, and over the remainder of this century, a dramatic increase in CH4 abundance above the current upper limit of 1 m-Am may be witnessed.  相似文献   

17.
The available full-disk reflectance spectra of Io in the range 0.3 to 2.5 μm have been interpreted by comparison with new laboratory spectra of a wide variety of natural and synthetic mineral phases in order to determine a surface compositional model for Io that is consistent with Io's other known chemical and physical properties. Our results indicate that the dominant mineral phases are sulfates and free sulfur derived from them, which points toward a low temperature and initially water-rich surface assemblage. Our current preferred mineral phase mixture that best matches the Io data and is simultaneously most consistent with other constraints, consists of a fine-grained particulate mixture of free sulfur (55 vol%), dehydrated bloedite [Na2Mg(SO4)2·xH2O] (30 vol%) ferric sulfate [Fe2(SO4)3·xH2O] (15 vol%), and trace amounts of hematite [Fe2O3]. Other salts may be present, such as halite and sodium nitrate, as well as clay minerals. Such a model is consistent with a probable pre- and post-accretion thermal history of Io-forming material and Io's observed Na emission and other properties. These results further support the evaporite surface hypothesis of Fanale et al'; while not precluding the presence of certain silicate phases such as montmorillonite.The average surface of Io's leading hemisphere appears to contain less free sulfur and more salts and to be finer grained than that of the trailing hemisphere. Since Io is immersed in Jupiter's magnetosphere, irradiation damage effects from low-energy proton bombardment were studied. Irradiation damage of lattices is estimated to be a relatively minor but operative process on the surface of Io; irradiation darkening by sulfate reduction to free sulfur and by F-center production in salts may be partly responsible for the differences in albedo of leading and trailing hemispheres and equatorial and polar regions of Io, but slight regional differences in relative intrinsic phase concentration on the surface may likewise account for these global variations in albedo.Possible unusual surface properties predicted by this model include: posteclipse darkening in certain wavelenghts, limb brightening in certain wavelengths, and unusual surface electrical properties. Further refinement of Io's surface composition model and better understanding of surface irradiation effects will be possible when observational data in the range 0.20 to 0.30 μm are obtained and when improved spectra in the range 0.30 to 5.0 μm are obtained having increased spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution.  相似文献   

18.
Physics and Chemistry of sulfur lakes on Io   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
A model for a convecting sulfur lake, heated from below by a silicate magma chamber , is constructed and applied to major hot spot regions on Jupiter's satellite Io. We use a two-layer parametrized convection scheme for sulfur and silicates based on a local boundary layer analysis to calculate temperature profiles in the system and the maximum flux which can be extracted from the silicate magma in steady state. The results indicate that the highest-component temperature of some observed hot spots (J. S. Pearl and W. M. Sinton, 1982, In The Satellites of Jupiter (D. Morrison, Ed.), pp. 724–755. Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson) is consistent with a convecting molten sulfur system, and the total flux from the most energetic spot, Loki Patera, is close to the maximum which can be extracted from molten silicates by convection. Simple hydrodynamic models of evaporative outflow from sulfur lakes indicate that the intermediate-component temperature of hot spots such as Loki can be identified with the evaporative sulfur flux which condenses in the atmosphere and over a wide area surrounding the lake(s). The ratio of warm to hot component fluxes for Loki and other hot spots is consistent with this interpretation, and evaporation sets a strong constraint on the maximum surface temperature for a steady-state lake. The Voyager IRIS continuum spectrum can be fitted by a sulfur lake model in which sulfur vapor condensing on the shore is assumed to radiate as a blackbody. The lifetime of such a lake, in steady state, based on evaporation and silicate cooling time scales is 1–100 years, implying long-term Earth-based observations could detect variations in the Loki thermal output. The model provides a useful interpretive tool for possible variability because it gives predictions for the relative thermal fluxes at different wavelengths. The sodium-sulfur phase diagram is also presented and used to show the evaporated lakes may leave behind a sodium-rich residue which could supply the torus with sodium. Finally, uncertainties in the model are assessed, including the lack of sulfur emission features in the Loki spectrum, and the alternative possibility that the SO2 plume observed at Loki could be supplying the excess thermal flux.  相似文献   

19.
S. Cortesi 《Icarus》1978,33(2):410-413
We have quantitatively determined the phase exaggeration effect (Phillips effect) as a function of the planet's phase angle for the correction of the longitude of spots on the Jupiter disk. This was done on the basis of over 1000 visual observations of the longitude of permanent details of Jupiter's surface compared with photographic observations. We also propose the existence of a systematic error (+0°.6 zenographic) in our visual observations. As this error is probably caused by unidirectional motion of the detail over the planetary disk, we named it the “shift effect”.  相似文献   

20.
《Planetary and Space Science》2007,55(13):2025-2036
Titan's vast equatorial fields of RADAR-dark longitudinal dunes seen in Cassini RADAR synthetic aperture images correlate with one of two dark surface units discriminated as “brown” and “blue” in Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) color composites of short-wavelength infrared spectral cubes (RGB as 2.0, 1.6, 1.3 μm). In such composites bluer materials exhibit higher reflectance at 1.3 μm and lower at 1.6 and 2.0 μm. The dark brown unit is highly correlated with the RADAR-dark dunes. The dark brown unit shows less evidence of water ice suggesting that the saltating grains of the dunes are largely composed of hydrocarbons and/or nitriles. In general, the bright units also show less evidence of absorption due to water ice and are inferred to consist of deposits of bright fine precipitating tholin aerosol dust. Some set of chemical/mechanical processes may be converting the bright fine-grained aerosol deposits into the dark saltating hydrocarbon and/or nitrile grains. Alternatively the dark dune materials may be derived from a different type of air aerosol photochemical product than are the bright materials. In our model, both the bright aerosol and dark hydrocarbon dune deposits mantle the VIMS dark blue water ice-rich substrate. We postulate that the bright mantles are effectively invisible (transparent) in RADAR synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images leading to lack of correlation in the RADAR images with optically bright mantling units. RADAR images mostly show only dark dunes and the water ice substrate that varies in roughness, fracturing, and porosity. If the rate of deposition of bright aerosol is 0.001–0.01 μm/yr, the surface would be coated (to optical instruments) in hundreds-to-thousands of years unless cleansing processes are active. The dark dunes must be mobile on this very short timescale to prevent the accumulation of bright coatings. Huygens landed in a region of the VIMS bright and dark blue materials and about 30 km south of the nearest occurrence of dunes visible in the RADAR SAR images. Fluvial/pluvial processes, every few centuries or millennia, must be cleansing the dark floors of the incised channels and scouring the dark plains at the Huygens landing site both imaged by Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR).  相似文献   

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