The crustal dichotomy of Mars

Abstract

The crustal dichotomy of Mars describes the topographic division between the young plains in the northern hemisphere and the old terrain in the southern hemisphere. The highland-lowland boundary separates the younger plains from the older, high-standing terrain and consists of three geologically-distinct regions: the Tharsis Province, the chaotic terrain, and the fretted terrain (which includes gradational boundary types)-all are characterised by tensional tectonics. This paper presents new geological evidence that shows the topographic division at the fretted terrain formed in the late Noachian-early Hesperian time period: the same time period in which the Tharsis Province and chaotic terrain formed, and fracturing of a southern-hemisphere-type surface beneath the northern plains occurred. These are inherent features of the crustal dichotomy, indicating it must have also formed during the late Noachian-early Hesperian time period. An analogy is made between the northern lowlands and sedimentary basins on Earth: both are basin like and are surrounded by provinces that have been subjected to pronounced tensional tectonics. This paper uses the White and McKenzie model (1989a) to propose that a lithospheric-stretching event on Mars, in the late Noachian-early Hesperian time period, produced the crustal dichotomy; the Tharsis Province formed by uplift (over a sub-surface hotspot) and gave rise to lithospheric stretching, and the northern lowlands formed by subsidence (over normal asthenospheric temperatures). Detachment faults, operating from the Tharsis Province and around northern lowlands, allowed structural equilibrium and large lithospheric extensions to be attained during this period: they also defined the geometry of the lowlands. The proposal is supported with calculations used to estimate the amount of subsidence that can be achieved in this way.