Strike-Slip Faults on Europa: Global Shear Patterns Driven by Tidal Stress

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

66

Scientific paper

Diurnal tides due to orbital eccentricity may drive strike-slip motion on Europa through a process of ``walking'' in which faults open and close out of phase with alternate right- and left-lateral shear. Mapping of five different regions on Europa has revealed 121 strike-slip faults, including Astypalaea Linea, a 800-km-long fault with 42 km of right-lateral offset. At high southern latitudes near Astypalaea Linea all of the strike slip faults identified were right-lateral. Europa appears to preferentially form right-lateral faults in the southern hemisphere and left-lateral faults in the northern hemisphere, consistent with tidal walking. At the five locations, nonsynchronous rotation explains the azimuthal orientations and distribution of sense of shear, which fit formation ~60 deg to 90 deg west of their current positions. Alternatively, stress due to differential rotation might also explain the observed shear patterns. Nearly all identified strike-slip faults were associated with double ridges or bands, but few were detected along ridgeless cracks (even older ones). Thus, cracks without ridges may not have penetrated to a decoupling layer, consistent with the models for ridge formation that require cracks to penetrate to a liquid water ocean.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Strike-Slip Faults on Europa: Global Shear Patterns Driven by Tidal Stress does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Strike-Slip Faults on Europa: Global Shear Patterns Driven by Tidal Stress, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Strike-Slip Faults on Europa: Global Shear Patterns Driven by Tidal Stress will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1086708

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.