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Shell Tectonics: A Mechanical Model for Strike-slip Displacement on EuropaWe introduce a new mechanical model for producing tidally-driven strike-slip displacement along preexisting faults on Europa, which we call shell tectonics. This model differs from previous models of strike-slip on icy satellites by incorporating a Coulomb failure criterion, approximating a viscoelastic rheology, determining the slip direction based on the gradient of the tidal shear stress rather than its sign, and quantitatively determining the net offset over many orbits. This model allows us to predict the direction of net displacement along faults and determine relative accumulation rate of displacement. To test the shell tectonics model, we generate global predictions of slip direction and compare them with the observed global pattern of strike-slip displacement on Europa in which left-lateral faults dominate far north of the equator, right-lateral faults dominate in the far south, and near-equatorial regions display a mixture of both types of faults. The shell tectonics model reproduces this global pattern. Incorporating a small obliquity into calculations of tidal stresses, which are used as inputs to the shell tectonics model, can also explain regional differences in strike-slip fault populations. We also discuss implications for fault azimuths, fault depth, and Europa's tectonic history.
Document ID
20140005704
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.12.015
Authors
Rhoden, Alyssa Rose (California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Wurman, Gilead (Seismic Warning Systems, Inc. Scotts Valley, CA, United States)
Huff, Eric M. (California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Manga, Michael (California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Hurford, Terry A. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
May 13, 2014
Publication Date
March 1, 2012
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Publisher: Elsevier
Volume: 218
Issue: 1
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN8921
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNH06CC03B
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
2) Tectonics
1) Europa
3) Rotational dyanimcs

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