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arXiv 1504.03404astro-ph.EP
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甲烷风暴作为土卫六沙丘方向的驱动力

Methane storms as a driver of Titan's dune orientation

Benjamin Charnay, Erika Barth, Scot Rafkin, Clément Narteau, Sébastien Lebonnois, Sébastien Rodriguez, Sylvain Courrech du Pont, Antoine Lucas

摘要:

土卫六的赤道区域被向东延伸的线状沙丘覆盖。这个方向与全球气候模式(GCM)模拟的平均地面风相反,GCM在这些纬度向西,类似于地球上的信风。不同的假设已经提出来解决这个明显的矛盾,涉及土星的引力潮汐,大尺度地形或风的统计,但没有一个可以解释全球东沙丘传播在赤道带。在这里,我们分析的影响,春分热带甲烷风暴发展在超旋转的大气(即在高海拔的东风)对土卫六的沙丘方向。使用对流甲烷云的中尺度模拟与GCM风廓线具有超旋转,我们表明,土卫六的风暴应产生快速向东阵风锋以上的表面。这样的阵风主导了风成输送,使沙丘向东延伸。因此,这项分析表明,超旋转,热带甲烷风暴和土卫六沙丘形成之间的耦合。此外,连同GCM的预测和类比一些陆地沙丘领域,这项工作提供了一个总体框架,解释土卫六的沙丘的几个主要特征:线性形状,向东传播和向极发散,并意味着土卫六的沙丘砂的赤道起源。

英文摘要:

Titan's equatorial regions are covered by eastward propagating linear dunes. This direction is opposite to mean surface winds simulated by Global Climate Models (GCMs), which are oriented westward at these latitudes, similar to trade winds on Earth. Different hypotheses have been proposed to address this apparent contradiction, involving Saturn's gravitational tides, large scale topography or wind statistics, but none of them can explain a global eastward dune propagation in the equatorial band. Here we analyse the impact of equinoctial tropical methane storms developing in the superrotating atmosphere (i.e. the eastward winds at high altitude) on Titan's dune orientation. Using mesoscale simulations of convective methane clouds with a GCM wind profile featuring superrotation, we show that Titan's storms should produce fast eastward gust fronts above the surface. Such gusts dominate the aeolian transport, allowing dunes to extend eastward. This analysis therefore suggests a coupling between superrotation, tropical methane storms and dune formation on Titan. Furthermore, together with GCM predictions and analogies to some terrestrial dune fields, this work provides a general framework explaining several major features of Titan's dunes: linear shape, eastward propagation and poleward divergence, and implies an equatorial origin of Titan's dune sand.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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