Punga Mare
Punga Mare from a false-color mosaic of synthetic aperture radar images of Titan's north polar region. A northern extension of Kraken Mare enters the view at lower right.
Feature typeMare
Coordinates85°N 340°W / 85°N 340°W / 85; -340
Diameter380 km[note 1]
EponymPunga

Punga Mare /ˈpʌŋə/[citation needed] is a lake in the north polar region of Titan, the planet Saturn's largest moon. After Kraken Mare and Ligeia Mare, it is the third largest known body of liquid on Titan.[1] It is composed of liquid hydrocarbons (mainly methane and ethane). Located almost adjacent to the north pole at 85.1° N, 339.7° W, it measures roughly 380 km (236 mi) across,[1][note 1] greater than the length of Lake Victoria on Earth. Its surface area is ~61,000 km2 (23,522 sq. mi).[2] Its namesake is Punga, in Māori mythology ancestor of sharks, rays and lizards and a son of Tangaroa, the god of the sea.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b The USGS web site gives the size as a "diameter", but it is actually the length in the longest dimension.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Titan maria". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  2. ^ Hayes, Alexander G. (2016-06-29). "The Lakes and Seas of Titan". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 44 (1): 57–83. Bibcode:2016AREPS..44...57H. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012247. ISSN 0084-6597.

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