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Compressional features in the Tharsis Region of Mars: Orientations and Timing of DeformationThe Tharsis ridge system appears to form a great circle around the major volcanoes. The roughly circumferential orientation of these ridges could be interpreted as the formation of a ridge system in response to a single stress field with a center near Pavonis Mons. Wise, et al. (1979) plotted the perpendiculars to strikes of ridges on the eastern flanks of Tharsis as great circles on the upper hemisphere of an equal area net. In order to further test for circular symmetry and possible other influences on ridge orientations, normals to vector means of ridge orientations were calculated using over 1850 digitized ridge segments sampled in 10 degree boxes. Orientations of individual ridge segments were weighted by their lengths, and the magnitudes of normals to vectors means were weighted by cummulative length of the ridge segments. Normals to vector means with magnitudes less than 100 km are not shown. Assuming a single fold origin for ridges, the resulting plot shows compressive stress trajectories for the ridges in the Tharsis region. The averaged compressive stress orientation around Tharsis confirm the suggestion by Wise, et al. that the ridge system is not concentric to any single point.
Document ID
19840015471
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Watters, T. R.
(National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC, United States)
Maxwell, T. A.
(National Air and Space Museum Washington, DC, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: NASA. Washington Rept. of Planetary Geology Program, 1983
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
84N23539
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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