Dust levitation as a major resurfacing process on the surface of a saturnian icy satellite, Atlas

Abstract

A small inner satellite of Saturn, Atlas, has an enigmatic saucer-like shape explained by an accumulation of particles from A-ring of Saturn. However, its unusual smooth surface remains unexplained. Gardening through continuous particle impact events cannot be a unique explanation for the smoothness, because Prometheus does not exhibit a similar surface, though it too would have experienced a similar bombardment. Here, a detailed investigation using close-up images of Atlas reveals the surface to be (1) covered by fine particles (i.e., probably as small as several tens of micrometers); (2) mostly void of impact craters (i.e., only one has been thus far identified); and (3) continuously smooth, even between the equatorial ridge and the undulating polar region. These findings imply that some sort of crater-erasing process has been active on the surface of Atlas. From electro-static analyses, we propose that the upper-most layer of the fine particles can become electro-statically unstable and migrate as a result of dust levitation, which resulted in erasing craters on the surface of Atlas. If true, Atlas would represent the first recognized body where resurfacing is dominated by dust levitation.