Research performed by scientists has confirmed that Titan’s ocean, supposedly contains far more salt than any Earth ocean, and that its salinity probably matches that of the Dead Sea.
NASA’s Cassini Orbiter revealed gravity data recently that looked closer into the depths of the ocean. The data found that the water is high density, which suggests saltier content. Fresh water would have a lower density due to less mass.
Those that studied the Cassini information compare the density of Titan’s waters to that of the Dead Sea in Israel. The body of water contains sulfur, potassium, and sodium to obtain its high density. It’s unknown if Titan has similar elements. However, the Dead Sea tends to contain about 40 percent salinity compared to any other ocean on Earth, which may reach only about four percent salinity.
Giuseppe Mitri of France’s University of Nantes and the main author of the Titan’s ocean project made a statement about his team’s findings. “This is an extremely salty ocean by Earth standards. Knowing this may change the way we view this ocean as a possible abode for present-day life, but conditions might have been very different there in the past.”
Prior research has discovered that Titan contains a layer of ice atop the water. However, the researchers and scientists looking into the Cassini data believe that beneath the ice that the water has very high salinity.
The Cassini information dates back 10 years, and the Orbiter also gathered information pertaining to topography.
Over the course of this 10-year span though, the Cassini Orbiter was able to study the ice layer above the Titan’s ocean.
According to the data, the ice may be thinner at times depending on the moon. This could mean that it freezes and thaws somewhat. The Titan’s ocean itself may also undergo freezing, the data suggests. Researchers believe that this means that life could not survive in the Titan ocean environment when the water’s that cold.
