"One of the most intriguing details in these images is a straight line of steep-sided icy mountains that cross into the part of Iapetus that is covered with black, sooty material. These mountains were pointed out by Cassini Imaging Team member Tilmann Denk of the University of Berlin in a presentation that he gave at the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) annual meeting on November 8. "This bright band of mountains crosses the dark material," he said. He explained that close analysis of the images reveals them to be "10 to 20 kilometers high, with bases 100 to 200 kilometers across" (6 to 12 miles high and 60 to 120 miles across). If these measurements hold up, those are some very high and steep mountains, and it's a mystery how the clean and bright looking peaks could protrude from Iapetus' sooty dark region."