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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 33,
L08S05,
doi:10.1029/2005GL024325,
2006
Lithospheric flexure and the evolution of the dichotomy boundary on Mars
Thomas R. Watters
Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA
Patrick J. McGovern
Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
Abstract
The boundary of the Martian crustal dichotomy in the eastern hemisphere is one of the most striking topographic features on
the planet. The long wavelength topography of much of the boundary is expressed by a broad rise and an arched ramp that slopes
downward from the southern highlands into the northern lowlands and often ends in a steep scarp. Lithospheric flexure of the
southern highlands for both a continuous and broken plate boundary with the northern lowlands lithosphere is modeled. We find
that the long wavelength topography of the boundary is best fit by a lithospheric deflection profile of a broken lithosphere
for reasonable values of the flexural parameter. The lithosphere near the dichotomy boundary may have been weakened by tectonic
stress associated with the formation of the crustal dichotomy by subcrustal transport caused by overturn of an early magma
ocean.
Received 5
August
2005;
accepted 28
October
2005;
published 1
February
2006.
Index Terms: 5430 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Interiors (8147); 5455 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Origin and evolution; 5460 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Physical properties of materials; 5475 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Tectonics (8149); 6225 Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mars.
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Citation: Watters, T. R., and P. J. McGovern
(2006),
Lithospheric flexure and the evolution of the dichotomy boundary on Mars,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
33,
L08S05,
doi:10.1029/2005GL024325.
Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
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