Tectonics on icy moons

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Tectonic activity has been studied on several icy moons.

Contents

Background

Igneous activity on icy moons can be defined as the melting, ascension, and solidification of liquids, particularly water and its ice polymorphs. [1] Tectonic features on icy lithospheres occur by global and regional stresses acting on the moon's interior. [1] Fractures in the icy lithosphere influence the mechanisms by which the lithosphere reacts to stress. [1] An unfractured ice lithosphere has a greater shear strength than tensile strength, and accordingly, compressional deformation must occur by shear failure and cause thrust and strike-slip faulting. [1] Conversely, prefractured ice has much less shear strength, and extensional stress will produce normal faults and graben. [1]

Residual heat from accretion is one possible source of internal heat for icy moons. But only moons with radii greater than about 2000 km are thought to be massive enough to melt pure water-ice in the outer layers. [1] Tidal heating and the decay of radioactive elements are another possible source of internal heat on icy moons. [1] Warming of a cold interior would cause the satellite to expand and undergo tensional stress on the surface. [1] Cooling, on the other hand, would cause contraction and compression. [1] Mantle convection likely occurred within most icy moons, but is not an important source of lithospheric stress. [1]

Asteroid and comet impacts are another source of thermal and seismic energy on icy moons. [1] Impacts could produce melt pools, reactivation of older faults and/or cracks, and deformation to the region antipodal to the impact site. [1] Impacts may impart three general fracture patterns on the icy moon: (1) a global system of radially symmetric fractures originating from the impact site, (2) concentric and radial fractures, and (3) collapse of an impact basin with radial and concentric troughs. [1]

Most icy satellites rotate synchronously. [1] If the satellite rotated more rapidly during formation, rotation becomes synchronous within 1,000-1,000,000 years due to tidal friction. [1] A decrease in rotational speed decreases the oblateness of the icy moon, which reduces principle stress in the north–south direction, thereby creating east–west trending dikes. [1] If tidal friction causes the lithosphere to fail, east west extensional features should be expected near the poles, northeast/northwest strike slip features at mid-latitudes, and north–south compressional features at the equator. [1] The transfer of angular momentum from the planet to the orbiting moon causes the moon's orbital distance to increase with time. [1] As a consequence of increasing orbital distance, the tidal bulge decreases. [1] These stresses should produce compression at the planet facing and antipode positions, extension at the poles, and strike-slip faults oriented northeast/northwest elsewhere. [1]

Plate tectonics

Some of the satellites of Jupiter have features that may be related to plate-tectonic style deformation, although the materials and specific mechanisms may be different from plate-tectonic activity on Earth. On 8 September 2014, NASA reported finding evidence of plate tectonics on Europa, a satellite of Jupiter—the first sign of subduction activity on another world other than Earth. [2] Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, was reported to show tectonic activity in images taken by the Huygens probe, which landed on Titan on January 14, 2005. [3]

The mechanisms of plate tectonics on icy moons, particularly Earth-like plate tectonics are not widely agreed upon or well understood. [4] Plate tectonics on Earth is hypothesized to be driven by “slab pull,” where the sinking of the more dense subducting plate provides the spreading force for mid-ocean ridges. [4] “Ridge push” is comparatively weak in Earth's plate tectonics. [4] Extensional features are abundant on icy moons, but compressional features are sparse. [4] Furthermore, subducting less dense ice into a more dense fluid is difficult to explain. [1] Force balance modeling suggests that subduction is likely to create large scale topographic forcing across icy moons, because the buoyant force is orders of magnitude greater than subducting forces. [4] Fracturing and plate-like motion is more easily explained by volume changes and ice-shell motion that is decoupled from interior motion. [4]

Tectonic and volcanic features

Trough and Scarp Sets

Linear troughs, chains of pits, and scarps in coherent orientations have been observed on Mimas, Tethys, Rhea, Iapetus, Umbriel, Europa, and Ganymede. These features are thought to be formed from impacts or tidal forcing. [1]

Ridges, grooves, craters and relatively smooth areas in the Uruk Sulcus region of Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Ganymede1.jpg
Ridges, grooves, craters and relatively smooth areas in the Uruk Sulcus region of Jupiter's moon Ganymede.

Scarps and troughs traversing older material

These features are similar in appearance to trough and scarp sets, but appear geologically distinct from the terrain in which they traverse. It is thought that the troughs are younger material. These features are considered normal faults and rifts formed by extensional tectonics. [1] However, on Dione and Tethys, large impacts may have produced traversing scarps and troughs. [1]

Linear and curvilinear ridges

Ridges are uncommon, but have been observed on Rhea, Dione, and Ganymede. Ridges are thought to form by compression or transpression. [1]

Concentric and radial scarps and furrows

Collapsed impact basins are thought to form concentric and radial scarps. The Valhalla ring system on Callisto is one of the most well-preserved examples of these features. Concentric furrows on Ganymede's dark terrain appear, but only as troughs and without scarps. [1]

Volcanism

Four processes may produce volcanic activity on icy moons: (1) mantle convection, (2) negative diapirism, (3) impact cratering, and (4) antipodal fracturing in response to a large impact. [1] The strongest evidence for volcanism is found in the polygonal coronae on Miranda, a large, fractured and resurfaced region embedded within a heavily cratered region.

Grooved terrain

Grooved terrain refers to features that are parallel or subparallel, dissect older terrain, are often associated with lighter colored terrain, and are negative relief structures rather than raised. [1] The negative topography suggests that these features formed from global expansion of the icy moon, although some suggest the features formed by reactivation of older structures. [1]

This mosaic of two images shows an area within the Valhalla region on Jupiter's moon, Callisto. North is to the top of the mosaic and the Sun illuminates the surface from the left. The smallest details that can be discerned in this picture are knobs and small impact craters about 155 meters (170 yards) across. The resolution is 46 meters (50 yards) per picture element, and the mosaic covers an area approximately 33 kilometers (21 miles) across. A prominent fault scarp crosses the mosaic. This scarp is one of many structural features that form the Valhalla multi-ring structure. Callisto-scarp.jpg
This mosaic of two images shows an area within the Valhalla region on Jupiter's moon, Callisto. North is to the top of the mosaic and the Sun illuminates the surface from the left. The smallest details that can be discerned in this picture are knobs and small impact craters about 155 meters (170 yards) across. The resolution is 46 meters (50 yards) per picture element, and the mosaic covers an area approximately 33 kilometers (21 miles) across. A prominent fault scarp crosses the mosaic. This scarp is one of many structural features that form the Valhalla multi-ring structure.

Observations

Europa

Europa Europa's surface.jpg
Europa

Voyager 2 and Galileo mission imagery revealed a highly fractured surface on Europa devoid of cratering, suggesting that the surface is regularly young and subject to resurfacing. [5] Dilational bands appear morphologically similar to spreading ridges on Earth, and therefore suggest that warm ice ascends upwards to form the bands. However, compressional deformation features are sparse and too small to accommodate spreading from the dilational bands. [5] A subduction mechanism is a key to the ice tectonics hypothesis on Europa. For subduction to occur, convection within or below the ice crust must exert stresses that exceed the strength of the overlying ice crust. [5] But to hold a tenable tectonics hypothesis, one must explain how ice sinks below the surface. [5] If the crustal ice porosity exceeds ~1%, subduction is unlikely, but the high concentrations of salt within the ice make subduction possible with porisities up to 10%. [5] Subduction may occur if differences in salt content exceed 5% between the overriding plate and the subducting plate. [5] However, the processes and conditions that initiate subduction are still poorly explained.

Europa's ice crust may be fractured by tidal stresses from Jupiter, and it has been hypothesized that liquid water could reach the surface through these cracks. [6] However, the ice overburden pressure within the crust exceeds tidal stresses at depths greater than 35 m below the ice surface, thereby limiting the depth at which tidally-induced cracks can propagate. [6] Furthermore, liquid water within any cracks will rapidly freeze. Therefore, a source other than tidal forcing must place the crust under tension for cracks to propagate deeply. Tides may force strike-slip motion along cracks, and this lateral motion would produce heat within the crack and make the ice more susceptible to ductile flow. [6] The warmer and less viscous ice along the cracks is less dense than the surrounding ice, and may flow upwards to the surface. [6] Melt generated within these fractures may briefly exist near the surface before percolating downward to the subsurface ocean over thousand year timescales. [6]

Chaos terrain on the left side of this image of Europa transitions to smooth terrain. Transition to chaos terrain.jpg
Chaos terrain on the left side of this image of Europa transitions to smooth terrain.

Truncated surface features suggest that subduction on Europa may occur along tabular zones. [7] Unlike subduction on Earth, differences in the strengths and relative densities of Europan ice, it is unlikely that the subducting ice plate is “pulled” into the subsurface ocean. [7] Instead, it is most likely incorporated into the ice composing the overriding plate. [7] Surface features that intersect tabular zones do not continue on the other side, unlike across strike-slip and dilational faults. [7]

Strike-slip faults in the northern hemisphere of Europa are predominantly left-lateral, while those in the southern hemisphere are predominantly right-lateral. [8] This dichotomy becomes more pronounced the further the fault is from the equator. [8] To explain this, the shell tectonics hypothesis describes a mechanism for strike-slip motion along faults driven by tidal forces from Jupiter. [8] Numerical simulations of shell tectonics strike-slip faulting agrees closely with observations. [8] However, the shell tectonics model requires that a substantial number of fractures or faults already exist on the surface. [8]

Convection and advection within the liquid ocean can transport and freeze liquid water into the ice crust, and that ocean-origin material may potentially reach the surface. [9] However, the forces that drive extension in the ice crust are not well known. Slab pull, where a subducting ice plate pulls the crust apart at divergent boundaries is unlikely to drive extension because ice is less dense than liquid water, and therefore unable to sink into the subsurface ocean. [9]

Ridges and fractures on Europa. Ridges and fractures.tif
Ridges and fractures on Europa.
The Phaidra Linea region on Europa. Phaidra Linea.jpg
The Phaidra Linea region on Europa.

Ganymede

Ganymede has two principle geologic units termed “dark” terrain and “bright” terrain. Bright terrain is hypothesized to be younger because it has fewer craters than the dark terrain. [10] The topography of bright terrain has many linear grooves in some regions, while it appears smooth in others. [10] The appearance of smooth terrain may be an artifact of low resolution Voyager 2 imagery. [10] Bright bands are hypothesized to form by tectonic spreading, possibly analogous to mid-ocean ridge spreading or terrestrial rift spreading. [10] In some regions, dark terrain patches are found within light terrain. [10] Parmentier et al. (1982) suggests that the light terrain material flooded into the dark terrain, leaving dark topographic highs as the observed dark patches surrounded by lower elevation light terrain. [10] Parmentier et al. (1982) find that mid-ocean ridge-like spreading does not occur on Ganymede, citing observations of poorly matched crater remnants and poorly fitting polygonal terrain in regions split by rifts. [10] Instead, offset features and evidence of flooding suggest finite lithospheric rifting produces the bright terrain. [10] Parmentier et al. (1982) infer that the dark terrain is an ice-silicate mixture that is slightly more dense than pure water ice. Extension in the dark terrain causes less dense water-ice to extrude upwards, forming linear and curve rifts of bright terrain. [10] Long, narrow grooves appear in both bright and dark terrains, but are more abundant in light terrain. [10] Grooves are typically symmetrical, which suggests that they are extensional features, rather than compressional features like folds or thrust faults. [10]

Head et al. (2002) reexamine possible formation mechanisms of bright and dark terrains on Ganymede using higher resolution Galileo mission imagery, with particular interest in whether the smooth areas described in Parmentier et al. (1982) are produced by cryovolcanic infilling. [11] Many of the smooth regions observed in Voyager 2 imagery appear that way due to low image resolution. [11] Instead, these “smooth” regions hold smaller linear ridges and troughs. [11] The presence of smooth terrain was key to the cryovolcanic infilling hypothesis, and the presence of ridges and troughs within these regions poses a substantial challenge to that hypothesis. [11] Galileo imagery reveals no lobate features or vents indicative of cryovolcanic flow. [11] Furthermore, in regions with both bright and dark terrain, the bright terrain is topographically higher. [11] These observations demand a tectonic deformation, possibly in addition to cryovolcanism, to explain bright regions. [11]

Linear grooves and furrows thousands of kilometers in length form concentric arcs on Ganymede's surface. [12] Rossi et al. (2018) undertook a detailed tectonic survey of Ganymede, using a combination of Voyager 2 and Galileo mission imagery, to inform an evolutionary tectonic model for the Uruk Sulcus region. [12] Right lateral faulting produces sigmoidal structures in the shear zone, where extensional forces create linear grooves and furrows. [12]

Abundant evidence of strike-slip faulting on Ganymede exists in both bright and dark terrain types. [13] Such faulting may expose fresh, light ice within dark terrains. [13] The fields of mapped faults may give evidence of how stress patterns shifted through time to produce the terrain. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plate tectonics</span> Movement of Earths lithosphere

Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid-to-late 1960s. The processes that result in plates and shape Earth's crust are called tectonics. Tectonic plates also occur in other planets and moons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Callisto (moon)</span> Second-largest moon of Jupiter

Callisto, or Jupiter IV, is the second-largest moon of Jupiter, after Ganymede. In the Solar System it is the third-largest moon after Ganymede and Saturn's largest moon Titan, and nearly as large as the smallest planet Mercury. Callisto is, with a diameter of 4,821 km, roughly a third larger than Earth's Moon and orbits Jupiter on average at a distance of 1,883,000 km, which is about six times further out than the Moon orbiting Earth. It is the outermost of the four large Galilean moons of Jupiter, which were discovered in 1610 with one of the first telescopes, being visible from Earth with common binoculars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europa (moon)</span> Smallest Galilean moon of Jupiter

Europa, or Jupiter II, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 95 known moons of Jupiter. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System. Europa was discovered independently by Simon Marius and Galileo Galilei and was named after Europa, the Phoenician mother of King Minos of Crete and lover of Zeus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ganymede (moon)</span> Largest moon of Jupiter and in the Solar System

Ganymede, or Jupiter III, is the largest and most massive natural satellite of Jupiter, and in the Solar System. Despite being the only moon in the Solar System with a substantial magnetic field, it is the largest Solar System object without a substantial atmosphere. Like Saturn's largest moon Titan, it is larger than the planet Mercury, but has somewhat less surface gravity than Mercury, Io, or the Moon due to its lower density compared to the three. Ganymede orbits Jupiter in roughly seven days and is in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance with the moons Europa and Io, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transform fault</span> Plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal

A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subduction zone. A transform fault is a special case of a strike-slip fault that also forms a plate boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anatolian sub-plate</span> Continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsula

The Anatolian sub-plate is a continental tectonic plate that is separated from the Eurasian plate and the Arabian plate by the North Anatolian Fault and the East Anatolian Fault respectively. Most of the country of Turkey is located on the Anatolian plate. Most significant earthquakes in the region have historically occurred along the northern fault, such as the 1939 Erzincan earthquake. The devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake occurred along the active East Anatolian Fault at a strike-slip fault where the Arabian plate is sliding past the Anatolian plate horizontally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryovolcano</span> Type of volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane, instead of molten rock

A cryovolcano is a type of volcano that erupts gases and volatile material such as liquid water, ammonia, and hydrocarbons. The erupted material is collectively referred to as cryolava; it originates from a reservoir of subsurface cryomagma. Cryovolcanic eruptions can take many forms, such as fissure and curtain eruptions, effusive cryolava flows, and large-scale resurfacing, and can vary greatly in output volumes. Immediately after an eruption, cryolava quickly freezes, constructing geological features and altering the surface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendocino Triple Junction</span> Point where the Gorda Plate, the North American Plate, and the Pacific Plate meet

The Mendocino Triple Junction (MTJ) is the point where the Gorda Plate, the North American Plate, and the Pacific Plate meet, in the Pacific Ocean near Cape Mendocino in northern California. This triple junction is the location of a change in the broad tectonic plate motions which dominate the west coast of North America, linking convergence of the northern Cascadia subduction zone and translation of the southern San Andreas Fault system. This region can be characterized by transform fault movement, the San Andreas also by transform strike slip movement, and the Cascadia subduction zone by a convergent plate boundary subduction movement. The Gorda Plate is subducting, towards N50ºE, under the North American plate at 2.5–3 cm/yr, and is simultaneously converging obliquely against the Pacific plate at a rate of 5 cm/yr in the direction N115ºE. The accommodation of this plate configuration results in a transform boundary along the Mendocino Fracture Zone, and a divergent boundary at the Gorda Ridge. This area is tectonically active historically and today. The Cascadia subduction zone is capable of producing megathrust earthquakes on the order of MW 9.0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Back-arc basin</span> Submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones

A back-arc basin is a type of geologic basin, found at some convergent plate boundaries. Presently all back-arc basins are submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones, with many found in the western Pacific Ocean. Most of them result from tensional forces, caused by a process known as oceanic trench rollback, where a subduction zone moves towards the subducting plate. Back-arc basins were initially an unexpected phenomenon in plate tectonics, as convergent boundaries were expected to universally be zones of compression. However, in 1970, Dan Karig published a model of back-arc basins consistent with plate tectonics.

A slow earthquake is a discontinuous, earthquake-like event that releases energy over a period of hours to months, rather than the seconds to minutes characteristic of a typical earthquake. First detected using long term strain measurements, most slow earthquakes now appear to be accompanied by fluid flow and related tremor, which can be detected and approximately located using seismometer data filtered appropriately. That is, they are quiet compared to a regular earthquake, but not "silent" as described in the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accretionary wedge</span> The sediments accreted onto the non-subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary

An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism forms from sediments accreted onto the non-subducting tectonic plate at a convergent plate boundary. Most of the material in the accretionary wedge consists of marine sediments scraped off from the downgoing slab of oceanic crust, but in some cases the wedge includes the erosional products of volcanic island arcs formed on the overriding plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discovery quadrangle</span> Quadrangle on Mercury

The Discovery quadrangle lies within the heavily cratered part of Mercury in a region roughly antipodal to the 1550-km-wide Caloris Basin. Like the rest of the heavily cratered part of the planet, the quadrangle contains a spectrum of craters and basins ranging in size from those at the limit of resolution of the best photographs to those as much as 350 km across, and ranging in degree of freshness from pristine to severely degraded. Interspersed with the craters and basins both in space and time are plains deposits that are probably of several different origins. Because of its small size and very early segregation into core and crust, Mercury has seemingly been a dead planet for a long time—possibly longer than the Moon. Its geologic history, therefore, records with considerable clarity some of the earliest and most violent events that took place in the inner Solar System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Fault Zone</span> Lateral-moving transform fault south of New Zealand

The 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) long Macquarie Fault Zone is a major right lateral-moving transform fault along the seafloor of the south Pacific Ocean which runs from New Zealand southwestward towards the Macquarie Triple Junction. It is also the tectonic plate boundary between the Australian Plate to the northwest and the Pacific Plate to the southeast. As such it is a region of high seismic activity and recorded the largest strike-slip event on record up to 23 May 1989, of at least Mw8.0

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana plate</span> Small tectonic plate west of the Mariana Trench

The Mariana Plate is a micro tectonic plate located west of the Mariana Trench which forms the basement of the Mariana Islands which form part of the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc. It is separated from the Philippine Sea Plate to the west by a divergent boundary with numerous transform fault offsets. The boundary between the Mariana and the Pacific Plate to the east is a subduction zone with the Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Mariana. This eastern subduction is divided into the Mariana Trench, which forms the southeastern boundary, and the Izu–Ogasawara Trench the northeastern boundary. The subduction plate motion is responsible for the shape of the Mariana plate and back arc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceraunius Fossae</span> Set of fractures in the northern Tharsis region of Mars

The Ceraunius Fossae are a set of fractures in the northern Tharsis region of Mars. They lie directly south of the large volcano Alba Mons and consist of numerous parallel faults and tension cracks that deform the ancient highland crust. In places, younger lava flows cover the fractured terrain, dividing it into several large patches or islands. They are found in the Tharsis quadrangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenic Trench</span> Long narrow depression bordering the Aegean Sea to the south

The Hellenic Trench (HT) is an oceanic trough located in the forearc of the Hellenic Arc, an arcuate archipelago on the southern margin of the Aegean Sea Plate, or Aegean Plate, also called Aegea, the basement of the Aegean Sea. The HT begins in the Ionian Sea near the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth and curves to the south, following the margin of the Aegean Sea. It passes close to the south shore of Crete and ends near the island of Rhodes just offshore Anatolia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tessera (Venus)</span> Region of deformed terrain on Venus

A tessera is a region of heavily deformed terrain on Venus, characterized by two or more intersecting tectonic elements, high topography, and subsequent high radar backscatter. Tesserae often represent the oldest material at any given location and are among the most tectonically deformed terrains on Venus's surface. Diverse types of tessera terrain exist. It is not currently clear if this is due to a variety in the interactions of Venus's mantle with regional crustal or lithospheric stresses, or if these diverse terrains represent different locations in the timeline of crustal plateau formation and fall. Multiple models of tessera formation exist and further extensive studies of Venus's surface are necessary to fully understand this complex terrain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chile Ridge</span> Submarine oceanic ridge in the Pacific Ocean

The Chile Ridge, also known as the Chile Rise, is a submarine oceanic ridge formed by the divergent plate boundary between the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate. It extends from the triple junction of the Nazca, Pacific, and Antarctic plates to the Southern coast of Chile. The Chile Ridge is easy to recognize on the map, as the ridge is divided into several segmented fracture zones which are perpendicular to the ridge segments, showing an orthogonal shape toward the spreading direction. The total length of the ridge segments is about 550–600 km.

Magmatism along strike-slip faults is the process of rock melting, magma ascent and emplacement, associated with the tectonics and geometry of various strike-slip settings, most commonly occurring along transform boundaries at mid-ocean ridge spreading centres and at strike-slip systems parallel to oblique subduction zones. Strike-slip faults have a direct effect on magmatism. They can either induce magmatism, act as a conduit to magmatism and magmatic flow, or block magmatic flow. In contrast, magmatism can also directly impact on strike-slip faults by determining fault formation, propagation and slip. Both magma and strike-slip faults coexist and affect one another.

References

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  2. ↑ Dyches, Preston; Brown, Dwayne; Buckley, Michael (8 September 2014). "Scientists Find Evidence of 'Diving' Tectonic Plates on Europa". NASA . Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Soderblom et al. 2007.
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