How altitude and latitude control dune morphometry on Titan
Résumé
Dune fields are one of the dominant landforms and represent the largest known organic reservoir on Titan. SAR-derived topography shows that Titan's dune terrains tend to occupy the lowest altitude areas in equatorial regions, occurring at mean elevations between ~-400 and ~0 m. In elevated dune terrains, there is a definite trend towards a smaller dune-tointerdune ratio, interpreted as due to limited sediment availability. A similar linear correlation is observed with latitude, suggesting that the quantity of windblown sand in the dune fields tends to decrease as one moves farther north. These findings place important constraints on Titan's geology and climate.