---
title: "Huge Explosions May Have Formed Lakes on Saturn’s Moon Titan"
description: "Scientists are suggesting that the methane-filled lakes on the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan could have been formed by massive explosions."
date: "2019-09-10"
modified: "2019-09-10"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/huge-explosions-lakes-saturn-moon-titan"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "Cassini-Huygens"
  - "methane"
  - "NASA"
  - "saturn"
  - "the digest"
  - "Titan"
---

# Huge Explosions May Have Formed Lakes on Saturn’s Moon Titan

![Scientists are suggesting that the methane-filled lakes on the surface of Saturn's largest moon Titan could have been formed by massive explosions.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/huge-explosions-lakes-saturn-moon-titan.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/JPL\</em\>*

## Explosion Craters

An international team of scientists [say that](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7496>) the [methane-filled lakes](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/saturns-moon-titan-covered-earth-lakes>) on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, could have been formed by massive explosions.

The proposed theory suggests that a greenhouse gas effect warmed up small pockets of liquid nitrogen in Titan's crust until they blew up and left massive craters behind. Precipitating liquid methane, acting much like Earthly rain, then filled those craters over time.

## Sharp Edges

The scientists used radar data collected by NASA's Cassini Saturn Orbiter, which made its last flyby of Titan back in 2017, for their research. Their findings were [published today](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0429-0>) in the journal *Nature Geoscience*.

Many lakes on Earth form when water erodes layers of limestone to form what geologists call karstic lakes. But Titan's lakes aren't the kind of watering holes we're used to here on Earth — they're made up of liquid methane, thanks to Titan's extremely cold climate.

## Titanic Rim

The team is hoping to continue sifting through the data collected during NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission to learn more about Saturn's mysterious moon.

"The rim goes up, and the karst process works in the opposite way," Giuseppe Mitri, team leader from G. d'Annunzio University in Italy, said in a [statement](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7496>). "We were not finding any explanation that fit with a karstic lake basin."

**READ MORE:** [New Models Suggest Titan Lakes Are Explosion Craters](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7496>) \[NASA\]

**More on Titan's lakes:** *[Saturn’s Moon Titan is Covered in Earth-Like Lakes](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/saturns-moon-titan-covered-earth-lakes>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)