Abstract
ABSTRACT Brittle deformation on Ganymede surface is represented by grooves tectonic linear landforms. These are regional scale structures that show well-defined morphology from straight to curvilinear. High density of grooves occupies most of the light terrain of the satellite, the grooved terrain. We map grooves on the USGS Voyager and Galileo Mosaic of Ganymede in order to unravel their spatial distribution and tectonic setting. A total of 14,707 grooves were identified, digitized and statistically analysed. A quantitative structural geology approach was used to classify grooves, by considering their azimuth and regional rotation. This procedure allowed to recognize a total of four groove families, named the NE, WNW, NW, and N-S super-systems. The presented structural map represents a tool to study the stress conditions associated with the groove formation and evolution. This map also aims to contribute to the scientific preparation of the upcoming missions and future exploration of Ganymede.
Highlights
Planetary missions successfully have been exploring the Outer Solar System for the last decades (e.g. Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo and Cassini–Huygens programmes, Fimmel, Van Allen, & Burgess, 1980; Matson, Spilker, & Lebreton, 2003; Smith et al, 1979a; Young, 1998)
We investigate and map the pattern of Ganymede regional grooves with the preparation of a structural map for a better comprehension of their characteristics and relationships
More recent investigations based on the Voyager imagery of Uruk Sulcus at regional scale allowed to recognize the consistent role of transpressional strike-slip kinematics along the region with significant compressional component (Rossi et al, 2018)
Summary
Planetary missions successfully have been exploring the Outer Solar System for the last decades (e.g. Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo and Cassini–Huygens programmes, Fimmel, Van Allen, & Burgess, 1980; Matson, Spilker, & Lebreton, 2003; Smith et al, 1979a; Young, 1998). The dark terrain covers 35% of the surface and it is characterized by relatively low albedo material (0.26 ± 0.05 according to Helfenstein et al, 1997) and high crater density, whose measurement suggests an age of around 4 Gyr (Nimmo & Pappalardo, 2004; Zahnle, Dones, & Levison, 1998, 2003). They are characterized by large-scale, arcuate fracture systems termed furrows, that have been hypothesized to be impact-related as the remnants of a system of concentric rings and radial fractures produced by large impacts occurred in the early. Grooves play a key role in the possible connection between surface and the subsurface ocean and represent the evidence of tectonic activity that deformed the satellite surface during its geologic evolution
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