Evolution of plate tectonics on terrestrial planets

Physics – Geophysics

Scientific paper

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Planetary Evolution, Plates (Tectonics), Terrestrial Planets, Cooling, Landforms, Lithosphere, Planetary Crusts, Topography, Planets, Terrestrial Planets, Tectonics, Evolution, Convection, Patterns, Earth, Rifting, Faulting, Cooling, Thickness, Lithosphere, Boundaries, Moon, Mercury, Crust, Thermal History, Models, Volcanism, Geophysics, Data, Mars, Venus, Diagrams, Comparisons

Scientific paper

The evidence for plate-tectonic (PT) evolution analogous to that on earth is presented for the moon, Mercury, Mars, and Venus. The alpha, beta, and buckling phases of earth PT and their dependence on plate formation and convection processes are characterized. PT is considered a necessary phase in the cooling of terrestrial planets. Hypsographic curves, smoothed topography and crustal-depth profiles, and data on crustal thickness, lithospheric thickness, center-of-mass/center-of-figure offset, and ratio of volcanic plains to highland areas, are given for each of the planets; the Mercury data are found to be insufficient for accurate PF modeling. It is shown that type-beta PT has specific boundary conditions now satisfied only on earth, while type-alpha PT acted on the earth at 3.8-1.2 GY and probably on the moon at 4.4-4.0 GY, on Mars with increased intensity for a longer period, and on Venus (where the present abundance of PT features and the surface thermal-boundary conditions may resemble those of the Archean earth) only since about 2 GY. The estimated evolution of tectonic styles and lithospheric thickness in time is plotted, and it is suggested that the beta phase may generally be of short duration.

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