<p>Given that: 1) Four billion years ago Saturn was hotter and radiated strongly in the infra-red.</p>

<p>. . . . . . . . . 2) Like Earth's moon, Titan was then closer to its planet.</p>

<p>. . . . . . . . . 3) Like Earth, Venus and Mars, Titan's atmosphere was then full of greenhouse gases.</p>

<p>. . . . . . . . . 4) Like Earth, Saturn and its satellites were then closer to the sun.</p>

<p>. . . . . . . . . 5) Like Earth, Titan was warmed by tidal forces causing flexion of the lithosphere,</p>

<p>is it feasible that Titan once had seas and lakes of liquid water and Earth-like volcanoes?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-11T12:57:26.727Z
By "Give that", do you mean "if we assume that", or "knowing that"?
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-11T18:28:45.457Z
What I mean is that it is a near-certainty that these conditions applied. To give you one example, it is established beyond doubt that Earth's moon was once nearer its planet, but tidal energy captured from the Earth has boosted it into a higher orbit and it is still moving away. It would be very hard to believe that this phenomenon, which we know has occurred on one planet, didn't occur  on another when the conditions were basically the same.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-11T19:20:54.693Z
I have never heard that Earth and Saturn were closer to the Sun in the past.  Are you sure and do you have a source for that?
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-11T19:51:45.190Z
Earth is known to be moving away from the sun at the rate of 15 cm per year, presumably propelled by the same mechanism that caused the moon to move away from Earth. It would be very odd if only one planet were affected and not others.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-12T08:12:14.503Z
@gerrit According to the Nice model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_model), all the giant planets were much closer to the Sun. Then Jupiter and Saturn crossed their 1:2 resonance, which propelled them to more eccentric orbits like in a game of pool!
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-12T08:30:30.537Z
@Jean-MariePrival Huh, interesting!
gerrit
<atmosphere><earth-history><planetary-science>
Earth-like conditions on Titan: is it feasible that Titan once had seas and lakes of liquid water?
Michael Walsby
# Earth-like conditions on Titan: is it feasible that Titan once had seas and lakes of liquid water?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-11)

Given that: 1) Four billion years ago Saturn was hotter and radiated strongly in the infra-red.

. . . . . . . . . 2) Like Earth's moon, Titan was then closer to its planet.

. . . . . . . . . 3) Like Earth, Venus and Mars, Titan's atmosphere was then full of greenhouse gases.

. . . . . . . . . 4) Like Earth, Saturn and its satellites were then closer to the sun.

. . . . . . . . . 5) Like Earth, Titan was warmed by tidal forces causing flexion of the lithosphere,

is it feasible that Titan once had seas and lakes of liquid water and Earth-like volcanoes?

**Tags:** atmosphere, earth-history, planetary-science

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: By "Give that", do you mean "if we assume that", or "knowing that"?  
> **username_0**: What I mean is that it is a near-certainty that these conditions applied. To give you one example, it is established beyond doubt that Earth's moon was once nearer its planet, but tidal energy captured from the Earth has boosted it into a higher orbit and it is still moving away. It would be very hard to believe that this phenomenon, which we know has occurred on one planet, didn't occur  on another when the conditions were basically the same.  
> **username_1**: I have never heard that Earth and Saturn were closer to the Sun in the past.  Are you sure and do you have a source for that?  
> **username_0**: Earth is known to be moving away from the sun at the rate of 15 cm per year, presumably propelled by the same mechanism that caused the moon to move away from Earth. It would be very odd if only one planet were affected and not others.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 According to the Nice model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_model), all the giant planets were much closer to the Sun. Then Jupiter and Saturn crossed their 1:2 resonance, which propelled them to more eccentric orbits like in a game of pool!  
> **username_1**: @username_2 Huh, interesting!  

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