Saraswati Flumen
Rivers of liquid methane and ethane on Saturn's moon Titan
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Saraswati Flumen is a river system (termed Flumen) of liquid methane and ethane on Saturn's moon Titan. It flows for 360 km before discharging into Ontario Lacus near Titan's south pole in a river delta on the lake's western shore. Its bankfull discharge is estimated to be 40–50,000 m3/s but its regular flow is estimated to be 10–2,000 m3/s.[2] Compared to Karesos Flumen and Hubur Flumen, the two other major rivers that drain into the Ontario Lacus which both originate in mountains, the Saraswati Flumen has a much flatter gradient.[3] The Saraswati Flumen is unlike most rivers on Titan including the more well known Vid Flumina in that it has a river delta. Furthermore, its delta is double-lobed, suggesting that the river switched courses over tens to hundreds of thousands of years to build both lobes.[2] The main lobe is around 97 km2 in area while the secondary lobe is around 50 km2.[4] It is hypothesized to be a suspended load-dominated river.[2]
| Saraswati Flumen | |
|---|---|
Synthetic aperture radar image from Cassini of Saraswati Flumen and its wave-modified delta draining into Ontario Lacus | |
 | |
| Etymology | From the Saraswati River from the Hindu Vedas |
| Location | |
| Moon | Titan |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Near the perimeter of Romo Planitia[1] |
| Mouth | Ontario Lacus |
| Length | >360 km [2] |
| Width | |
| • maximum | ~700 m [2] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 10–2,000 m3/s (estimated 2023) [2] |
| Basin features | |
| Discoverer | Cassini |
