Doom Mons

Doom Mons is named after Mount Doom, a volcano that appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, most prominently in The Lord of the Rings. The name of Mount Doom was formally announced for the Titanean mountain on November 13, 2012. == Location ==

Doom Mons is located in the Titan's southern hemisphere, between 14 and 15° south and 40–41° west. possibly connected to the wider Shangri-La dark region, and is adjacent to Sotra Patera, a possible cryovolcanic caldera deep. Mohini Fluctus, a bright lobate flow feature at least long, appears to emerge from Doom Mons and extends to the northeast. It is partially covered by dunes, including at its visible terminus, suggesting it is on the order of tens of meters thick. About to the north-northeast is situated another putative cryovolcanic feature, Erebor Mons, which is across, over high, and has lobate flow features to its north and east. == Characteristics and height ==

From 2005, the findings of the Cassini–Huygens probe have revealed a largely smooth surface of Titan, with some notable abnormalities. Many Titanean "mountains" are little more than hills. However, some of these mountains rise to some several hundreds of meters high. Doom Mons is currently believed to be possibly the largest Titanean mountain range and with the eponymous peak one of the highest; the title of highest peak on Titan is thought to be held by the Mithrim Montes, which may have been formed by global contraction. Doom Mons is believed to be a twin-peak that rises above the relatively flat surrounding plain, and a probable massive cryovolcano. The permanent hurricane at the southern pole of Titan probably causes an issue of constant erosion on Doom Mons, preventing the mountain from growing taller. Doom Mons is believed to have a total width about . ==Fiction==

Coincidentally, before The Lord of the Rings was published, a fictional mountain range of Titan already existed that carried the name "Mount Doom"; this was a major setting in the 1935 science-fiction tale Flight on Titan by Stanley G. Weinbaum. This was one of the locations in the Titan portion of Weinbaum's acclaimed Planetary series. Weinbaum's Mount Doom was alternatively referred to in the tale as the "Mountains of Death", or "Mountains of The Damned"; it was populated by hostile native wildlife such as "Ice-Ants", "Whiplash Trees", pterodactyl-like "Knife-Kites", and the hypnosis-inducing "Giant Titanian Cave Threadworm". The climate of Weinbaum's mountain is described as sub-Arctic, and it is constantly battered by howling ice-needle storms and hurricane-force winds. ==References==