Grooved Terrain on Ganymede: A Galileo-based SynthesisSwaths of bright "grooved terrain" (sulci) on Ganymede are 10s to 100s of kilometers wide and cross-cut the older dark terrain, forming an intricate patchwork across 2/3 of Ganymede's surface. The view of grooved terrain developed from Voyager images is that bright cells are broad graben infilled by extrusion of relatively clean (silicate-poor) liquid water, warm ice, or icy slush, and then extended and faulted. Galileo imaging has greatly improved understanding of the emplacement history and geological implications of grooved terrain, supporting a rift-like model for its formation.
Document ID
20030110808
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Pappalardo, Robert T. (Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Collins, Geoffrey C. (Wheaton Coll. Norton, MA, United States)
Head, James W. (Brown Univ. Providence, RI, United States)
Moore, Jeffrey M. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Schenk, Paul M. (Lunar and Planetary Inst. Houston, TX, United States)