HR: 0830h
AN: P41A-0391    [PDF]
TI: Processes of Planetary Faulting Revealed Through High-Resolution Topography
AU: * Schultz, R A
EM: schultz@mines.unr.edu
AF: University of Nevada, Dept. of Geol. Sciences Mackay School of Mines, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AB: Faulting generates clear topographic signals at the planetary surface that can be related to the style and geometry of the faults at depth. The displacement distribution along a fault (its offset at the surface) reveals the strength of rock adjacent to the fault's tipline, the deformability of the surroundings, mechanical interaction and incipient linkage with nearby faults, and the presence of mechanically significant subsurface layers. DEMs that portray the amplitude and position of surface topography (uplift and subsidence) due to fault slip can be inverted for depth of faulting, which for sufficiently large faults is related to the stability of frictional sliding and thereby to the paleogeothermal gradient at the time of faulting. Knowledge of the 3-D fault geometry of faults in a region is then easily converted into the magnitude and direction of brittle strain accommodated by the fault population. Displacement-length scaling relations contain information on fault interaction, subsurface stratification, and variations between planets. Examples from Mars illustrate the power and utility of topography as a tool in planetary structure and tectonics.
DE: 6225 Mars
DE: 8010 Fractures and faults
DE: 8020 Mechanics
DE: 8107 Continental neotectonics
DE: 8149 Planetary tectonics (5475)
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting