Tidal dissipation in oceans on Titan

Abstract

Titan's large free eccentricity results in significant tidal dissipation. This can be used to constrain the existence and depth of hydrocarbon oceans. A hydrodynamical-numerical 2 deg ocean tide model has been constructed to investigate this connection. The model allows some simple land configurations. The results indicate that existence of such an ocean over the age of the solar system is hard to explain, as is the existence of the large eccentricity itself. If such an ocean exists, it is likely to be more than 500 m deep, ignoring the influence of land masses.