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Planetary science

Stormy origins of Titan's dunes

Titan's equatorial dunes seem to move in the opposite direction to the prevailing easterly winds. Infrequent methane storms at Titan's low latitudes may briefly couple surface winds to fast westerlies above, dominating the net movement of sand.

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Figure 1: Diagram of zonal (east–west) sand transport at the equator over a Titan year.
Figure 2

NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

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Correspondence to Claire Newman.

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Newman, C. Stormy origins of Titan's dunes. Nature Geosci 8, 334–335 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2423

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