Iapetus
Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἰαπετός.

  • (moon) Named after the titan.
  • (ocean) The Iapetus Ocean was the predecessor to the Atlantic Ocean, so this name was chosen because Iapetus is the father of Atlas (see Atlantic).
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /aɪˈæpɪtəs/
Proper noun
  1. (Greek god) A Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius.
  2. (astronomy) The third largest moon of Saturn
  3. (geology) An ancient ocean which existed between 600 and 400 million years ago.
    • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 184:
      So, in the early Ordovician, Iapetus was wide enough to have one side in high latitudes and the other in the tropics: a massive ocean, indeed.
Synonyms
  • (ocean) Proto-Atlantic, Proto-Atlantic Ocean
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