Saturn's poles exhibit giant swirling cyclones, whereas Jupiter's poles may not. Simulations of giant planet atmospheres suggest that just the right balance of convective storm energy and poleward drift of cyclones may explain Saturn's vortices.
References
Emanuel, K. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 31, 75–104 (2003).
O'Neill, M. E., Emanuel, K. & Flierl, G. R. Nature Geosci. 8, 523–526 (2015).
Baines, K. H. et al. Planet. Space Sci. 57, 1671–1681 (2009).
Dyudina, U. A. et al. Icarus 202, 240–248 (2009).
Antuñano, A., del Río-Gaztelurrutia, T., Sánchez-Lavega, A. & Hueso, R. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 120, 1–22 (2015).
Fletcher, L. N. et al. Science 319, 79–81 (2008).
Fletcher, L. N. et al. Icarus 250, 131–153 (2015).
Reznik, G. M. J. Fluid Mech. 240, 405–432 (1992).
Scott, R. K. Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dynam. 105, 409–420 (2011).
Orton, G. S. et al. Planet. Space Sci. 61, 161–167 (2012).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fletcher, L. Stirring up Saturn's poles. Nature Geosci 8, 503–504 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2471
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2471
- Springer Nature Limited