DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2814
论文题名: Recent tectonic activity on Mercury revealed by small thrust fault scarps
作者: Watters T.R. ; Daud K. ; Banks M.E. ; Selvans M.M. ; Chapman C.R. ; Ernst C.M.
刊名: Nature Geoscience
ISSN: 17520894
出版年: 2016
卷: 9, 期: 10 起始页码: 743
结束页码: 747
语种: 英语
Scopus关键词: graben
; historical record
; Mercury (planet)
; planetary landform
; spacecraft
; tectonic setting
; thrust fault
英文摘要: Large tectonic landforms on the surface of Mercury, consistent with significant contraction of the planet, were revealed by the flybys of Mariner 10 in the mid-1970s. The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission confirmed that the planet's past 4 billion years of tectonic history have been dominated by contraction expressed by lobate fault scarps that are hundreds of kilometres long. Here we report the discovery of small thrust fault scarps in images from the low-altitude campaign at the end of the MESSENGER mission that are orders of magnitude smaller than the large-scale lobate scarps. These small scarps have tens of metres of relief, are only kilometres in length and are comparable in scale to small young scarps on the Moon. Their small-scale, pristine appearance, crosscutting of impact craters and association with small graben all indicate an age of less than 50 Myr. We propose that these scarps are the smallest members of a continuum in scale of thrust fault scarps on Mercury. The young age of the small scarps, along with evidence for recent activity on large-scale scarps, suggests that Mercury is tectonically active today and implies a prolonged slow cooling of the planet's interior. © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. Citation statistics:
资源类型: 期刊论文
标识符: http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/105908
Appears in Collections: 气候减缓与适应 科学计划与规划
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作者单位: Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States; Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, United States; Planetary Science Dirct., Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, United States; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States
Recommended Citation:
Watters T.R.,Daud K.,Banks M.E.,et al. Recent tectonic activity on Mercury revealed by small thrust fault scarps[J]. Nature Geoscience,2016-01-01,9(10)