Abstract
THE surface of Mars shows abundant evidence of extensional and contractional deformation in the form of normal faults, grabens and wrinkle ridges 1–3. In contrast, strike-slip faults have been considered to be extremely rare or absent on Mars4,5. This view is based on the lack of significant lateral offset of pre-existing markers such as craters across suspected faults. Thus, Mars is believed to have evolved without plate tectonics or other large-scale lateral motions of the lithosphere6. However, careful study of Viking Orbiter images is revealing that strike-slip faults may be present on Mars7. Here I identify and document several well preserved examples of martian strike-slip faults and examine their relationships to wrinkle-ridges. The strike-slip faulting predates or overlaps periods of wrinkle-ridge growth south-east of Valles Marineris, and some wrinkle ridges may have nucleated and grown as a result of strike-slip displacements along the echelon fault arrays. Lateral displacements of several kilometres inferred along these arrays may be related to tectonism in Tharsis.
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Schultz, R. Strike-slip faulting of ridged plains near Valles Marineris, Mars. Nature 341, 424–426 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341424a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/341424a0
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