近日，美国地质调查局
课题组人员将景观演变模型与地球上海岸线形状的测量相结合，以表征不同的海岸侵蚀机制是如何影响海岸线形态的。将这一框架应用到土卫六上，课题组人员发现，土卫六海洋的海岸线与随后被海浪侵蚀的洪水地貌最为一致，而不是均匀的侵蚀过程或者没有海岸侵蚀，特别是当波浪生长在几十公里长的地方饱和时。
据介绍，土卫六碳氢化合物海洋的海岸线追踪了洪水侵蚀地貌，如河谷。然而，尚不清楚海岸侵蚀是否随后改变了这些海岸线。航天器观测和理论模型表明，风可能会导致土卫六海洋上形成波浪，潜在地推动海岸侵蚀，但波浪的观测证据是间接的，影响土卫六海岸线演变的过程仍然未知。即使在已知主要机制的地球上，也没有广泛接受的框架来确定海岸线形态定量地辨别海岸侵蚀机制。
附：英文原文
Title: Signatures of wave erosion in Titan’s coasts
Author: Rose V. Palermo, Andrew D. Ashton, Jason M. Soderblom, Samuel P. D. Birch, Alexander G. Hayes, J. Taylor Perron
Issue&Volume: 2024-06-21
Abstract: The shorelines of Titan’s hydrocarbon seas trace flooded erosional landforms such as river valleys; however, it is unclear whether coastal erosion has subsequently altered these shorelines. Spacecraft observations and theoretical models suggest that wind may cause waves to form on Titan’s seas, potentially driving coastal erosion, but the observational evidence of waves is indirect, and the processes affecting shoreline evolution on Titan remain unknown. No widely accepted framework exists for using shoreline morphology to quantitatively discern coastal erosion mechanisms, even on Earth, where the dominant mechanisms are known. We combine landscape evolution models with measurements of shoreline shape on Earth to characterize how different coastal erosion mechanisms affect shoreline morphology. Applying this framework to Titan, we find that the shorelines of Titan’s seas are most consistent with flooded landscapes that subsequently have been eroded by waves, rather than a uniform erosional process or no coastal erosion, particularly if wave growth saturates at fetch lengths of tens of kilometers.
DOI: adn4192
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn4192