Laboratory measurements of nitrogen dissolution in Titan lake fluids

Abstract

We obtained laboratory measurements of nitrogen solubility in mixed solutions of ethane and methane at temperatures and pressures relevant to Titan's lakes and seas. Our results show that nitrogen solubility is increased at higher methane concentration, lower temperature, and higher pressure. We developed an empirical fit that agrees well with our measurements. We show that significant volumes of nitrogen gas will be released from Titan lake fluids on heating, and that significant volumes of nitrogen gas will be absorbed by Titan lake fluids on cooling. The densities of the lake fluids will be affected by nitrogen dissolution. We also show that mixing of two cryogenic fluids of different composition can lead to the release of large amounts of nitrogen gas. This has implications for lake fluids, bubble formation, geological phenomena, and also for future landed missions on the surface of Titan. We find in particular that methane-rich lakes at lower temperatures on Titan will be the most sensitive to changes in surface conditions, either cooling, heating, or compositional mixing.