Venus tesserae feature layered, folded, and eroded rocks

Tesserae on Venus are locally the stratigraphically oldest units preserved on the planet. These regions are characterized by pervasive tectonic deformation including normal faults, grabens, thrust faults, and folds. In multiple tesserae, sets of (often highly) curved, parallel linear features are al...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2021-01, Vol.49 (1), p.81-85
Main Authors: Byrne, Paul K, Ghail, Richard C, Gilmore, Martha S, Sengor, A. M. Celal, Klimczak, Christian, Senske, David A, Whitten, Jennifer L, Khawja, Sara, Ernst, Richard E, Solomon, Sean C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alpha Regio
Aphrodite Terra
arcuate features
basalts
chemical weathering
Deformation
emissivity
erosion
exhumation
Extraterrestrial geology
Fault lines
faults
folds
Geological faults
Geology
grabens
igneous rocks
imagery
layered materials
linear features
Magellan Program
morphology
normal faults
Outcrops
Ovda Regio
paleoatmosphere
patterns
planets
Radar
radar methods
sedimentary rocks
surface features
Tectonics
Tellus Tessera
Terracing
Terrain
terrains
terrestrial comparison
terrestrial planets
tesserae
Thrust faults
Venus
Venus surface
volcanic rocks
weathering
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Summary:Tesserae on Venus are locally the stratigraphically oldest units preserved on the planet. These regions are characterized by pervasive tectonic deformation including normal faults, grabens, thrust faults, and folds. In multiple tesserae, sets of (often highly) curved, parallel linear features are also present. These features strongly resemble terracing in layered volcanic or sedimentary sequences on Earth having arcuate or sinuous outcrop patterns that follow undulating topography. Should this analogy hold for Venus, then these outcrop patterns imply some erosion of the tessera units in which these strata occur; radar-dark materials filling proximal lows might be deposits of that eroded material. This outcrop pattern is seen in geographically dispersed tessera units, so the preservation of layering could be common for this terrain type. If so, then tesserae record the culmination of volcanic and/or sedimentary deposition, folding, and erosion-complex geological histories that should be considered in future studies of this enigmatic terrain.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G47940.1