In mid-December, planetary scientists said they've identified what could be a volcano on Titan – albeit one that disgorges icy slush instead of molten rock. The mountain, known as Soltra Facula, has long been a volcanic suspect. But 3-D images built from Cassini data appear to strengthen the case. The mountain looks strikingly like Italy's Mt. Etna, Iceland's Laki, or even volcanic cones around Flagstaff, Ariz., said Randolph Kirk, an astrogeologist at the US Geological Survey's office in Flagstaff.
Soltra Facula, some 3,000 feet high, has a central crater with flow-like features spreading down the mountainside. What could drive eruptions? Some source of warmth deep beneath the surface that turns ices to slush and drives them through cracks or weak spots in the moon's crust.
Eruptions from such volcanoes could be the source of methane in Titan's atmosphere, a gas that should readily break down in sunlight and disappear without some source of replenishment.
