Abstract
The natural modes of Ontario Lacus surface oscillations, the largest lake in Titan’s southern hemisphere, are simulated and analyzed as they are potentially of broad interest in a variety of dynamical researches. We found that tidal forces are too low in frequency to excite the (barotropic) normal modes. Broadband wind forcing likely spans the resonant frequencies. High wind speed, which could be encountered under episodic phenomena such as storms, would be required to significantly excite the normal modes. While the slower baroclinic normal modes could more easily be resonantly forced by the low-frequency tidal forces, addressing this issue demands unavailable information about the lake stratification.
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Notes
Imaging Science Subsystem: it takes pictures in visible, near-ultraviolet, and near-infrared light (see Porco et al.2004).
The solar longitude of Saturn, Ls, is the angle between the sun and Saturn and describes the season of Saturn and its moons.
The former concern the motion of a constant density liquid and are mostly external modes, i.e. approximately depth-dependent, while the latter differently impacts each layer of various density, resulting in internal oscillations.
A fundamental slosh is a normal mode with 1 node in the domain, i.e. it is the longest standing wave that can be observed in the domain.
Reprinted from Transient surface liquid in Titan’s polar regions from Cassini, 211, Hayes, A. G.; Aharonson, O.; Lunine, J. I.; Kirk, R. L.; Zebker, H. A.; Wye, L. C.; Lorenz, R. D.; Turtle, E. P.; Paillou, Philippe; Mitri, G and others, 655–671, Copyright (2011), with permission from Elsevier
These equations are obtained by separation of variables.
The mass matrix results from the integral of the product of the shape functions over each element of the domain.
The maximum wind speed is set to 1 m/s in accordance with existing data and atmospheric model results.
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Funding
Computational resources were provided by the Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Intensif (CÉCI), funded by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) under Grant No. 2.5020.11. Eric Deleersnijder is an honorary Research associate with the F.R.S.-FNRS. This research is funded by the Belgian PRODEX, managed by the ESA, in collaboration with the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.
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Vincent, D., Lambrechts, J., Karatekin, Ö. et al. Normal modes and resonance in Ontario Lacus: a hydrocarbon lake of Titan. Ocean Dynamics 69, 1121–1132 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-019-01290-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-019-01290-2