RT journal article
T1 Evidence of thrust faulting and widespread contraction of Ceres
A1 Ruiz, Javier
A1 Jiménez Díaz, Alberto
A1 Mansilla, Federico
A1 Parro, Laura
A1 Egea González, María Isabel
A1 Küppers, M
A2 Física Aplicada
AB The surface of the dwarf planet Ceres is considered to bedominated by geological processes typical of small bodies ormedium-sized icy bodies, such as impact cratering; there arealso features of putative cryovolcanic origin as well as thoserelated to flow of near-surface ice. Extensional featuresinclude regional linear troughs, fractures and pit chains, fractures associated with impact craters and with crater floors,and polygonal craters whose walls seem to be structurallycontrolled. However, no contractional features, which arerelated to thrust fault activity more typical of large silicatebodies, have been described. Here we report the presence of scarps, ridges and fractures associated with thrustfaults, tectonically raised terrains and thrusted craters—allcontractional features. These structures closely resemblethrust-fault-related lobate scarps on Mercury and Mars,albeit with lower displacement. They seem more abundantin high-latitude ancient terrains, perhaps owing to illumination effects that aid identification. The observed deformationimplies that the crustal material is stronger than water ice butweaker than silicate rocks, consistent with our current knowledge of crustal composition12 and rheology. These featuressuggest that large-scale contraction, possibly related to differentiation processes, occurred in the history of Ceres.
PB Nature Portfolio
SN 2397-3366
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32086
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32086
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 12-nov-2026