Samarkand Sulci is a region of grooved terrain on the surface of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

's moon Enceladus. The feature is centered at 30.5° North

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, 326.8° West

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, and is approximately 383 kilometers long. Samarkand Sulci consists of three parts. The southern and eastern extensions bound Sarandib Planitia on its western and northern sides, respectively. The northern portions extends into a region of cratered terrain. Using ''

Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, as a part of the Voyager program. It was launched on a trajectory towards the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and enabled further encounters with the ice giants (Uranus and ...

'' images, Kargel and Pozio (1996) found that the northern and southern/eastern extensions of this feature are likely distinct features with different origins and ages. The portions surrounding Sarandib Planitia were characterized as sinuous "mountainous ridges" 1-1.5 km in height, and lying within relative topographic lows. Kargel and Pozio (1996) suggested that they might be fold belts, similar to

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Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The northern portion of Samarkand Sulci was found to consist of linear

fracture Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...

s, suggesting that rather than a compressional fold belt, the northern part of Samarkand Sulci may in fact be an extensional

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...

. Based on analysis of crater counts in both areas of Samarkand Sulci, Kargel and Pozio (1996) suggested that the rift formed before the ridges. Recent images by the '' Cassini'' spacecraft show portions of Samarkand Sulci at much higher resolution than in the ''Voyager 2'' images. Numerous parallel ridges are resolved in the southern and eastern extensions of the feature, though some ridges appear chevron shaped. Just as Kargel and Pozio (1996) found parts of this feature lying within topographic lows, sharp scarps bound the ridge belts in several regions. On the far eastern tip of Samarkand Sulci, these scarps begin to converge as the ridge belts disappear, forming narrow canyons. Northern Samarkand Sulci was also observed. This region appears unconsolidated with several craters, like Ahmad and

Peri-Banu Peri-Banu is a Impact crater, crater in the northern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Enceladus (moon), Enceladus. Peri-Banu was first discovered in ''Voyager 2'' images but was seen at much higher resolution, though near the Terminator (solar), term ...

, appearing to be cross-cut or even flooded by this portion of Samarkand Sulci. Near the southern end of Samarkand Sulci, curious dark patches, 500–750 m across were observed lying along ridge crests. It is possible these spots may be collapse pits. Samarkand Sulci is named after the country ruled over by Shah Zaman, brother of Shahryar, in ''

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''.

References

{{Enceladus Surface features of Enceladus