The role of gravitational potential energy in the Martian lithospheric stress field

Statistics – Computation

Scientific paper

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0545 Modeling (4255), 5475 Tectonics (8149), 8122 Dynamics: Gravity And Tectonics, 8164 Stresses: Crust And Lithosphere, 8168 Stresses: General

Scientific paper

Understanding the lithospheric stress field on Mars is essential in interpreting patterns of surface faulting and geomorphologic features, as well as assessing the accuracy of different lithospheric models. We compute the portion of the lithospheric stress field on Mars produced by variations in crustal density and thickness using data described in Neumann et al. (2004). Our computation consists of two parts: calculation of the gravitational potential energy (GPE) at 1 degree intervals followed by calculation of the stress field derived from variations in the GPE using the commercial finite element program ABAQUS. When calculating the GPE, we consider both Airy and Pratt isostatic compensation models, as well as scenarios where no compensation model is invoked or the Martian crust acts as the Martian lithosphere. The lithosphere is treated as an elastic body and the full 3-D equations for conservation of mass and momentum are solved. In future models variations in lithologic properties and a viscoselastic rheology for the lithosphere will be incorporated. Preliminary results show gradations in the GPE between the southern highland and northern lowland regions of Mars relating to variations in crustal thickness between the two regions. For example, when the crust is assumed to behave as the elastic lithosphere, the southern highlands of Mars exhibit a much higher GPE as a result of their higher on average crustal thickness. If the lithosphere is assumed to contain both crust and mantle sections and a uniform compensation depth is assigned, however, the variation in GPE between the two regions is significantly altered.

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