Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p51b0922s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P51B-0922
Physics
5475 Tectonics (8149), 5499 General Or Miscellaneous, 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
A great deal of work has been done in determining the resurfacing history of the northern lowlands; however, most of the previous research has focused on the depth and characteristics of the Hesperian and Amazonian plains units that cover an older, heavily cratered Noachian surface (e.g. Tanaka et. al. 2003). An analysis of the amount and density of fill within the Utopia Basin could provide valuable insight to the depositional environment of the northern lowlands during the earliest epoch of martian history. In the present study we use the topography and gravity data from recent Mars' missions to analyze the subsurface structure of the Utopia basin, focusing on the volume and density of fill that causes the shallowness of the basin. Using the assumption that the initial isostatic state of Utopia was similar to that of the Hellas basin allows us to construct a model for Utopia that facilitates investigation of its interior configuration. Based on the spherical harmonic, thin-shell elastic model of Banerdt (1986), we developed a system of equations that allows us to solve for the original basin shape, the amount of fill within Utopia basin, the amount of flexure due to the fill material, the total vertical load and the horizontal load potential. The presence of quasi-circular depressions within the Utopia basin (Frey 2004) indicates that the majority of the material within Utopia was deposited early in the Noachian when the elastic lithosphere of Mars was (presumably) relatively thin (<50 km). Given this constraint along with constraints placed on the system due to the pre-fill isostatic assumption, we can place a lower bound on the density of the fill within Utopia basin of 2800 kg/m3. This indicates that the amount of fill within the Utopia basin is >15 km, with a corresponding lithospheric flexure/membrane deformation of >14 km. The high density obtained for the fill requires that it contain a large igneous component, the source of which is problematic. Relaxing the isostatic assumption to a reasonable degree perturbs the density bound only slightly. This thin-shell model also allows us to calculate the stress field due to the flexure/membrane strains. The stress results show that the circumferential and radial tectonic features seen in the Utopia region (Thomson and Head 2001) are not due solely to deformation of the elastic lithosphere, so the tectonic features observed are the result, at least in part, of processes that occur within the load itself.
Phillips James R.
Searls Mindi L.
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