The formation and development of desert dunes on Titan
Combining climate models and observations of the surface of Titan from the Cassini probe, a team from the AIM Astrophysics Laboratory (CNRS / CEA / Paris Diderot University) , in collaboration with researchers at the Paris Earth Physics Institute (IPGP / CNRS / Paris Diderot University) and the Matter and Complex Systems Laboratory - MSC (CNRS / Paris Diderot University), have proposed a new formation and growth mechanism for the dunes on the surface of the moon. This growth mechanism, also seen in some terrestrial deserts and on the planet Mars, appears to be the dominant mechanism in the deserts of Titan, explaining not only the shape of the dunes, but also their orientation and direction of growth, together with their confinement to the tropical belt around the moon. The results of this study have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.