If Saturn's moon titan has tons of oil, which comes from fossils, did it once have an abundance of life?
There is a global ocean of liquid water beneath Titan's icy surface. [1] The Huygens probe measured radio signals that strongly suggested the presence of an ocean 35 to 50 miles below the surface. [1] Titan also has rivers, lakes, and seas of liquid methane and ethane, and these might serve as a habitable environment on the moon's surface. [1]
There are canyons on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, that are up to 1,870 feet deep and contain liquid hydrocarbons, a compound found in fossil fuels like oil and natural gas [1]. The presence of hydrocarbons on Titan signals the possible past existence of life on the moon [1, 2]. Moreover, NASA is thinking about building a submarine capable of exploring Titan's murky hydrocarbon depths [3]. Moreover, hydrocarbons are made from decomposing plants and animals, and fossil fuels in the Earth's crust contain carbon and hydrogen [2]. Even though Titan is very cold, with a surface temperature of around -180 degrees Celsius, there are rivers and lakes on the moon's surface that are thought to contain an oily mixture of methane and another hydrocarbon called ethane [3].