Geological Society of America

T21 Tectonic, Volcanic, and Volcanotectonic Processes on Rocky Planetary Bodies

Sunday, 25 September 2016
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Room 201

AN EARLY LOOK AT THE TECTONIC AND MAGMATIC HISTORY OF THE CLARITAS REGION; MARS

Paper number: T21-5
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:50 AM – 9:05 AM

Authors

Robert C. Anderson Presenting Author
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Robert C. Anderson Presenting Author
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
James M. Dohm
University of Tokyo, Tokyo
Andrew Siwabessy
California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Nolan P. Fewell
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Abstract

The formation of the Tharsis rise dominated the geologic and tectonic histories of the western hemisphere of Mars. Claritas rise is a distinct promontory located on the eastern side of Tharsis. Claritas contains the greatest percentage of faults preserved in Noachian materials for the western hemisphere, and is marked by an enormous rift system and highly deformed mountainous materials interpreted to be ancient basement crust. Unraveling the complex array of faults associated with Claritas provides a key to understanding the early history of the Martian crust. This area has been identified as a center of activity representing a region of broad magmatic-driven uplift and associated tectonism. Because it spatially registers with a magnetic signature, the activity is interpreted to mark either incipient Tharsis development, or more likely, pre-Tharsis activity, when the Martian dynamo was in operation. In this presentation, we plan on presenting our continuing analysis of the type and ages of the major fault systems identified within the Claritas region.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-284144

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