Martian Tectonics on a Spatially Heterogeneous Lithosphere

Details Martian Tectonics on a Spatially Heterogeneous Lithosphere Martian Tectonics on a Spatially Heterogeneous Lithosphere

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p33b1458b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P33B-1458

Mathematics

Logic

5417 Gravitational Fields (1221), 5475 Tectonics (8149), 8149 Planetary Tectonics (5475)

Scientific paper

Together with gravity and topography analysis, the study of surface faulting is key to our understanding of the Martian crust, lithosphere and upper mantle. Extensive catalogs of surface faults are now available for Mars, based either on Viking images or on MOLA altimetry. Using forward modeling of faults under gravity and topography constraints, researchers have tried in the past to reproduce observed faults in type, orientation and associated strain amplitude. These attempts have met with mixed success in predicting the global pattern of normal faults, and little success in explaining the distribution of thrust faults or the near- absence of strike-slip faults. Part of the problem originates in our ignorance of the time evolution of gravity and topography, so that present-day values must be used in the modeling. The reconstruction of a topographic history based on geologic layering is conceivable, but the history of gravity anomalies will never be known. Some assumptions underlying the mechanical modeling of tectonics are more testable. Using flexure equations for a thin shell with variable thickness, we study the influence on fault modeling of a lithosphere having a spatially heterogeneous rigidity. We also analyze the effect of a spatially heterogeneous loading density. We apply these results to geologically-motivated scenarios for Tharsis tectonics: this volcanic province could be underlain by a thinner lithosphere or loaded with basalts of higher density than the mean crustal density.

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