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Flexural ridges, trenches, and outer rises around coronae on VenusFlexural signatures outboard of Venusian coronal rims are examined with the purpose of inferring the thickness of the planet's elastic lithosphere. Topographic profiles of several prominent coronae which display clear trench and outer rise signatures are presented. Via a thin elastic plate flexure model to characterize the shape of the trench and outer rise, Venusian flexures are found to be similar in both amplitude and wavelength to lithospheric flexures seaward of subduction zones on earth. It is shown that circumferential fractures are concentrated in areas where the topography is curved downward, in good agreement with the high tensile stress predicted by the flexure models. Two scenarios for the development of the ridge-trench-outer rise flexural topography and circumferential fractures of coronae are presented. The first scenario involves reheating and thermal subsidence of the lithosphere interior to the corona, while the second involves expansion of the corona interior and roll back of the subducting lithosphere exterior to the corona.
Document ID
19930030862
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Sandwell, David T.
(Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla, CA, United States)
Schubert, Gerald
(California Univ. Los Angeles, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
October 25, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 97
Issue: E10
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
93A14859
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: JPL-958496
CONTRACT_GRANT: JPL-958950
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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