Deciphering the deformation history of Ulysses Fossae, Mars, using fault pattern analysis

Shahrzad, Stephanie; Bramham, Emma; Thomas, Mark; Byrne, P. K.; Mortimer, Estelle; Piazolo, Sandra

doi:10.5194/epsc2021-782

Cited by 3 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Other highly faulted volcanotectonic areas, such as Ulysses Fossae (Fernández & Ramírez‐Caballero, 2019; Shahrzad et al., 2023) and Noctis Labyrinthus (Kling et al., 2021), display similar pit‐crater chain and catenae morphology as the ones we have mapped south of Alba Mons in this study. However, the complexity of troughs varies between the three locations in a range from least to most amount of structure complexity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…(2023). Other Tharsis volcanoes such as the Tharsis Montes show pit‐crater chain structures on the flanks of the volcanoes, but given the distance from the main volcano for the faults in Noctis Labyrinthus (Kling et al., 2021) and Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, a relatively more shallow magma source (and near‐surface volatile layers) could be the reason for the complexity of the collapse structures in those locations, compared to Ulysses Fossae (Shahrzad et al., 2023). There, the comparative “lack” of complex collapse features from the majority of the Tharsis‐superplume related volcanoes, could reflect a deeper magma source.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Amazonian Tectonic Evolution of Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, Mars, and Implications for Local Magmatic Sources

Shahrzad,

Bramham,

Piazolo

et al. 2024

JGR Planets

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The heavily faulted Martian terrains of Ceraunius Fossae and Tractus Fossae, south of the Alba Mons volcano, have previously only been considered as parts of larger tectonic studies of Alba Mons, and consequently the complexity of the faulting remains unclear. As these terrains are in the midst of the large Tharsis volcanoes, the study of their surface deformation has the potential to help unravel the volcano‐tectonic deformation associated with the growth of Tharsis as well as to decipher details of the magma‐tectonic processes responsible for graben formation. Here, we distinguish between faults and collapse structures based on image and topographic evidence. We mapped ∼12,000 faults, which we grouped into three distinct fault groups based on orientation, morphology, and relative ages. These show a temporal evolution in the mapped fault orientations from NE to N‐S to NW with associated changes in stress orientations. We also mapped collapse features and categorized them into four different groups: pit‐crater chains, catenae, u‐shaped troughs and chasmata. Examining the four collapse structure groups reveals that they are likely four progressive stages in the erosional evolution of pit‐crater chains. Together, this revealed a structural history heavily influenced by lateral diking from both local (radial to Alba Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons) and regional (radial to Tharsis) sources, and vertical diking from a proposed Ceraunius Fossae centered magma source. This, along with an updated crater size‐frequency distribution analysis of the unit ages, reveals a highly active tectonic and magmatic environment south of Alba Mons in the Middle Amazonian.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amazonian Tectonic Evolution of Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, Mars, and Implications for Local Magmatic Sources

Shahrzad,

Bramham,

Piazolo

et al. 2024

JGR Planets

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Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The shapefile of the mapped faults and craters in this study is available for free download from Zenodo: craters (Shahrzad, 2022a), faults (Shahrzad, 2022b). We also provide the .diam CraterTools files for input in Craterstats in Zenodo (Shahrzad, 2023). The CTX images (Malin et al, 2007) used in this study can be downloaded from NASA's PDS Geoscience Node at https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/mro_mission.html and the MOLA-HRSC DEM v2 used to generate topographic profiles is available from USGS' Astropedia Catalog (Fergason et al, 2018).…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering the Structural History of Ulysses Fossae, Mars, Using Fault Pattern Analysis

et al. 2023

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Ulysses Fossae is a faulted region surrounded by lava flows that sits between the major volcanoes of the Tharsis Rise volcanic province on Mars. This area is unique, as it is the only exposure of extensional faulting which can be related to the Olympus Mons volcano and one of the only a few faulted areas relating to the Tharsis Montes. In order to determine the area's structural evolution through time, we mapped all identifiable faults, divided them into 10 fault groups determined by their orientation and morphology, and performed detailed crater size‐frequency analysis of the geological units. We divide the fault groups into two overall types based on their genesis: local diking and regional extension. The complex structural evolution recorded in the extensional faults in Ulysses Fossae is dominated by local dike‐related activity (8/10 fault groups), along with deformation from large, regional scale extensional processes related to the development of the Tharsis province as a whole (2/10 fault groups). Strain values measured across the 1 fault groups vary between 0.4%–2.2%, with the grabens related to regional extension accommodating larger extensional strains than the local dike‐related grabens. The crater size‐frequency distribution analysis of three distinct areas in Ulysses Fossae (UF Dome, UF North, and UF South) revealed that the majority of the faulting in Ulysses Fossae was active during the Early Amazonian.

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“…Mapped faults, collapse features, and craters from this study are available to download free from Zenodo: faults (Shahrzad, 2023b), collapse features (Shahrzad, 2023c), craters (Shahrzad, 2023d). The CTX images (Malin et al, 2007) used in this study can be downloaded from NASA's PDS Geoscience Node at https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/portal/mro_mission.html and the MOLA-HRSC DEM v2 used to generate topographic profiles is available from USGS' Astropedia Catalog (Fergason et al, 2018).…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amazonian Tectonic Evolution of Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, Mars, and Implications for Local Magmatic Sources

Shahrzad,

Bramham,

Piazolo

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The heavily faulted Martian terrains of Ceraunius Fossae and Tractus Fossae, south of the Alba Mons volcano, have previously only been considered as parts of larger tectonic studies of Alba Mons, and the complexity of the faulting remains consequently unclear. As these terrains are in midst of the large Tharsis’ volcanoes, the study of their surface deformation has the potential to help unravel the volcano-tectonic deformation history associated with the growth of Tharsis, as well as decipher details of the responsible magma-tectonic processes. In this study, we distinguish between faults and collapse structures based on image and topographic evidence of pit-crater chains. We mapped ~12,000 faults, which we grouped into 3 distinct fault groups based on orientation, morphology, and relative ages. These show a temporal evolution in the mapped fault orientations from NE to NS to NW, with associated perpendicular stress orientations. Collapse features were also mapped and categorized into 4 different groups: pit-crater chains, catenae, u-shaped troughs and chasma. Examining the 4 collapse structures reveals that they are likely 4 different steps in the erosional evolution of pit-crater chains. Together this revealed a structural history heavily influenced by both local (radial to Alba Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons) and regional (Tharsis radial) lateral diking, and vertical diking from a proposed Ceraunius Fossae centred magma source. This, along with an updated crater size-frequency distribution analysis of the unit ages, reveals a highly active tectonic and magmatic environment south of Alba Mons, in the Late Amazonian.

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Deciphering the deformation history of Ulysses Fossae, Mars, using fault pattern analysis

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Amazonian Tectonic Evolution of Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, Mars, and Implications for Local Magmatic Sources

Amazonian Tectonic Evolution of Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, Mars, and Implications for Local Magmatic Sources

Deciphering the Structural History of Ulysses Fossae, Mars, Using Fault Pattern Analysis

Amazonian Tectonic Evolution of Ceraunius and Tractus Fossae, Mars, and Implications for Local Magmatic Sources

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