Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dps....42.2603o&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #42, #26.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.1025
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Much of Europa's surface is crosscut by a dense network of fractured lineaments, offering many candidate faults for studying both past and potentially present tectonic activity. Here we investigate the role of both diurnal and non-synchronous rotation (NSR) tidal stresses in the development of Agenor Linea, a major strike-slip fault in Europa's southern hemisphere with strong evidence of right-lateral offsets. Preliminary calculations suggest that diurnal tidal stresses alone may be insufficient to cause Coulomb failure at Agenor Linea, thus we consider the role of NSR as a secular stress source for strike-slip faulting. To investigate Europa's combined diurnal and NSR tidal stress field, we utilize the SatStress numerical code and assume a spherically symmetric ice shell of thickness 20 km, underlain by a global subsurface ocean. We also assume an NSR period of 104 - 105 yrs, ice shell viscosity of 1022 Pa s, a coefficient of friction of 0.2, and a fault depth of 6 km. Application of the Coulomb failure criterion reveals that a combination of NSR and diurnal tidal stresses are required for Agenor Linea to succumb to right-lateral shear failure at specific portions of the orbital cycle. We further explore the relationship of NSR to Agenor Linea's east-west orientation. Preliminary work suggests that if the fault were oriented in the north-south direction, NSR would generate only left-lateral shear and compressive normal stress, neither of which could constructively combine to produce right-lateral offsets. This research was supported by the NASA Outer Planets Research Program (NNG06GF44G, 07-OPR08-0088).
Olgin John G.
Pappalardo Robert T.
Smith-Konter Bridget R.
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