Dust levitation as a major resurfacing process on the surface of a saturnian icy satellite, Atlas

A small inner satellite of Saturn, Atlas, has an enigmatic saucer-like shape explained by an accumulation of particles from A-ring of Saturn. However, its unusual smooth surface remains unexplained. Gardening through continuous particle impact events cannot be a unique explanation for the smoothness, because Prometheus does not exhibit a similar surface, though it too would have experienced a similar bombardment. Here, a detailed investigation using close-up images of Atlas reveals the surface to be (1) covered by fine particles (i.e., probably as small as several tens of micrometers); (2) mostly void of impact craters (i.e., only one has been thus far identified); and (3) continuously smooth, even between the equatorial ridge and the undulating polar region. These findings imply that some sort of crater-erasing process has been active on the surface of Atlas. From electro-static analyses, we propose that the upper-most layer of the fine particles can become electro-statically unstable and migrate as a result of dust levitation, which resulted in erasing craters on the surface of Atlas. If true, Atlas would represent the first recognized body where resurfacing is dominated by dust levitation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.