RT journal article
T1 Structural modeling of lobate scarps in the NW margin of Argyre impact basin, Mars
A1 Herrero Gil, Andrea
A1 Egea González, María Isabel
A1 Ruiz, Javier
A1 Romeo, Ignacio
A2 Física Aplicada
K1 Lobate scarp
K1 Mars
K1 Thrust Faults
K1 Depth of faulting
K1 Heat flow
AB Martian lobate scarps are prominent tectonic structures interpreted to be the topographic expression of largethrust faults generated under compression. Here, we present a structural modeling performed on three largelobate scarps (Ogygis Rupes, Bosporos Rupes and Phrixi Rupes) located in the heavily cratered highlands ofMars, specifically in Aonia Terra, between Thaumasia Montes and Argyre impact basin. These lobate scarps,formed in the Late Noachian/Early Hesperian, strike parallel to the edge of the Thaumasia Montes, and weregenerated by ESE-vergent thrust faults. Structural analysis of craters deformed by these lobate scarps givesminimum estimates for the faults slip of ∼1700–3100 m. We applied two structural methods in order to constrain the geometry of these thrust faults at depth, area balanced cross sections and forward mechanical dislocation modeling, obtaining a depth of faulting in this area between ∼18 and ∼45 km, and dip angles between23° and 35°. These results are consistent with previous studies of lobate scarps on Mars. The depth of faultinggives an estimation of the depth of the brittle-ductile transition at the time of its formation giving a range ofdepth in which the state of the lithosphere change from brittle to ductile-dominated deformation. The heat flowvalues calculated from the obtained depths of the brittle–ductile transition range from 25 to 51 mW m−2. Weshow that the brittle-ductile transition depth in Aonia Terra is set in 18–27 km at a larger distance from the basincenter, while it is deeper closer to the Argyre rim (∼33–45 km). This difference seems to indicate a thickening ofthe brittle domain under Argyre main rim with respect to the external area but, attending to regional geologyand heat flow values calculated, this high value (∼33–45 km) might be an overestimation of the depth offaulting caused by the presence of the crater rim elevation before the formation of the lobate scarps.
PB Elsevier
SN 1090-2643
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32079
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32079
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 13-nov-2026