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With the conclusion of the Cassini mission, we present an updated topographic map of Titan, including all the available altimetry, SARtopo, and stereophotogrammetry topographic data sets available from the mission. We use radial basis functions to interpolate the sparse data set, which covers only ∼9% of Titan's global area. The most notable updates to the topography include higher coverage of the poles of Titan, improved fits to the global shape, and a finer resolution of the global interpolation. We also present a statistical analysis of the error in the derived products and perform a global minimization on a profile‐by‐profile basis to account for observed biases in the input data set. We find a greater flattening of Titan than measured, additional topographic rises in Titan's southern hemisphere and better constrain the possible locations of past and present liquids on Titan's surface.

We present a geomorphologic map of Titan's polar terrains. The map was generated from a combination of Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Imaging Science Subsystem imaging products, as well as altimetry, SARTopo and radargrammetry topographic datasets. In combining imagery with topographic data, our geomorphologic map reveals a stratigraphic sequence from which we infer process interactions between units. In mapping both polar regions with the same geomorphologic units, we conclude that processes that formed the terrains of the north polar region also acted to form the landscape we observe at the south. Uniform, SAR-dark plains are interpreted as sedimentary deposits, and are bounded by moderately dissected uplands. These plains contain the highest density of filled and empty lake depressions, and canyons. These units unconformably overlay a basement rock that outcrops as mountains and SAR-bright dissected terrains at various elevations across both poles. All these units are then superposed by surficial units that slope towards the seas, suggestive of subsequent overland transport of sediment. From estimates of the depths of the embedded empty depressions and canyons that drain into the seas, the SAR-dark plains must be >600 m thick in places, though the thickness may vary across the poles. At the lowest elevations of each polar region, there are large seas, which are currently liquid methane/ethane filled at the north and empty at the south. The large plains deposits and the surrounding hillslopes may represent remnant landforms that are a result of previously vast polar oceans, where larger liquid bodies may have allowed for a sustained accumulation of soluble and insoluble sediments, potentially forming layered sedimentary deposits. Coupled with vertical crustal movements, the resulting layers would be of varying solubilities and erosional resistances, allowing formation of the complex landscape that we observe today.

Titan has an active methane-based hydrologic cycle 1 that has shaped a complex geologic landscape 2 , making its surface one of most geologically diverse in the solar system. Despite the different materials, temperatures, and gravity fields between Earth and Titan, many surface features are similar between the two worlds and can be interpreted as products of the same geologic processes 3 . However, Titan’s thick and hazy atmosphere has hindered the identification of geologic features at visible wavelengths and the study of surface composition 4 . Here we identify and map the major geologic units on Titan’s surface using radar and infrared data from the Cassini orbiter spacecraft. Correlations between datasets enabled us to produce a global map even where data sets were incomplete. The spatial and superposition relations between major geologic units reveals the likely temporal evolution of the landscape and gives insight into the interacting processes driving its evolution. We extract the relative dating of the various geological units by observing their spatial superposition in order to get information on the temporal evolution of the landscape. Dunes and lakes are relatively young, while hummocky/mountainous terrains are the oldest on Titan. Our results also show that Titan’s surface is dominated by sedimentary/depositional processes with significant latitudinal variation, with dunes at the equator, plains at mid-latitudes and labyrinth terrains and lakes at the poles.

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Large portions of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko’s northern hemisphere are blanketed by fallback material consisting of centimeter-sized particles termed the smooth terrains. Observations from the Rosetta mission show that the most drastic transient changes during 67P’s 2015 perihelion passage occurred within a subset of these deposits. However, we still do not understand the processes driving these changes, limiting our overall understanding of how comets evolve over both seasonal and multiorbit timescales. Herein we provide a complete documentation of scarp-driven activity on 67P’s largest smooth terrain deposit, a highly active portion of the Imhotep region that is the southernmost of all smooth terrain basins on 67P. We also present a thermal model that accurately predicts when and where scarps originate during the course of the observed activity. Assuming a uniform surface composition, our model shows that activity is heavily controlled by local topography rather than the presence of ice-enhanced hot spots on the surface. Scarps within the smooth terrain deposits in central Imhotep also exhibit a peculiar behavior, where three scarps originate from the same location but at different times and migrate in opposite directions. This behavior indicates that the landscape retains a memory of previous cycles of erosion and deposition, reflected by the depth of the volatile-rich layer. Future work will need to couple our thermal model with a landscape evolution model in order to explain the complete dynamic evolution of these terrains.