Roncevaux Terra

Roncevaux Terra (with part of Cassini Regio at left) is seen in the lower part of the image. The upper part is Saragossa Terra. The prominent crater at its upper right is Engelier. Imaged by the Cassini orbiter.

Roncevaux Terra is the name given to the northern part of the highly reflective side of Saturn's moon Iapetus. The southern half of this side is named Saragossa Terra. The other half of Iapetus, named Cassini Regio, is extremely dark. It is believed that Roncevaux Terra's colour is the underlying colour of Iapetus, while Cassini Regio was formed either by a substance that has covered up the brighter ice of the rest of the moon, or by a residue left from the sublimation of Roncevaux-type water ice. For more details, see the main article on Iapetus.

Roncevaux Terra is named after the Battle of Roncevaux Pass, subject of the French poem the Chanson de Roland, after whose characters the surface features of Iapetus are named. "Terra" is a term used in planetary geology to refer to extensive landmasses.

External links

• "Roncevaux Terra". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.

• Map of Iapetus