Ontario Lacus
Ontario Lacus is a methane / ethane lake near the south pole of Saturn's moon Titan. As a liquid hydrocarbon lake Ontario Lacus was confirmed by infrared observations of the Cassini spacecraft on 31 July 2008 in the journal Nature. Ontario Lacus, with an area of approximately 15,000 km ² in about the size of Schleswig- Holstein or Styria, and is thus slightly smaller than his earthly name origin, Lake Ontario in North America.
On 12 January 2010, the Cassini spacecraft made a higher resolution radar scan of Ontario Lacus, which shows several notable characteristics. The northern shore is characterized by about 1 km high hills and flooded river valleys. A straight run, wave- shaped coastline, similar to that of southwestern Lake Michigan can be observed in the northeast area. Parallel to the present shore lines running may have been formed over long periods by low waves, which in turn presumably arise from west or southwest winds. The southeastern coast shows a rounded, projecting far into the sea bay.
The middle part of the western coast has the first observed and well-developed river delta on Titan. Similar to the Rhône delta in the French Camargue, is its morphology according to judge a wave- dominated delta, at the coming of higher -lying areas, liquid hydrocarbons switch on their way to their lake river channel and thus have created at least two peninsulas. Further examples of such channel change or wave -dominated deltas can be found on the ground at the southern end of Lake Albert in Africa between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the remains of the former inland sea Mega - Chad in Chad.
Compared with earthly waters similar expansion Ontario Lacus seems to be remarkably shallow and smooth. Radar scans in July 2009 and January 2010 revealed an average depth of only 0.4 to 3.2m at a maximum depth of 2.9 to 7.4 m. This would lead to an estimated volume of only 7 to 50 km ³, less than one-thirtieth of the earthly Lake Ontario. Any of the time points existing waves on Ontario Lacus are further than 1 mm high, either to the complete absence of wind, and / or a viscous, ie thick, composition of the liquid hydrocarbons indicated in the lake.
According to the latest research, the liquid level of the Ontario Lacus is about to change as in the Etosha Pan with the height of the level of liquid present in the soil.