Saturn System

Abstract

As the second most massive gaseous planet of our Solar System, Saturn is of scarce interest for geologists. Conversely, its giant moon Titan, the eight mid-sized icy satellites and the numerous minor moons offer a wide choice of sizes, morphologies, structures, composition, and processes of interest. The Cassini mission has revealed cryovolcanic activity on the south region of Enceladus, the highly porous, sponge-like moon Hyperion and the equatorial mountain ridge on the surface of Iapetus, the moon divided into very dark and very bright hemispheres. Moreover, the planet is encircled by the largest planetary ring system known.