10027/10926
G. Wesley Patterson
G. Wesley
Patterson
Adam P. Lederer
Adam P.
Lederer
Louise M. Prockter
Louise M.
Prockter
Andrew J. Dombard
Andrew J.
Dombard
Flanking Fractures and the Formation of Double Ridges on Europa
University of Illinois at Chicago
2013
Geophysics
Tectonics
Jupiter
satellites
2013-12-18 00:00:00
Journal contribution
https://indigo.uic.edu/articles/journal_contribution/Flanking_Fractures_and_the_Formation_of_Double_Ridges_on_Europa/10767995
Europa, a satellite of Jupiter, is one of the most intriguing worlds in the solar system. Its
dearth of impact craters and plethora of surface morphologies point to a dynamic evolution of its
icy shell in geologically recent times. Double ridges are a common landform and appear to have
formed over a significant fraction of the satellite’s observed geologic history. Thus,
understanding their formation is critical to unraveling Europa’s history, and many models have
been proposed to explain their creation. A clue to the formation of ridges may lie in evidence for
flexure of the lithosphere in response to a load imposed by the ridge itself (marginal troughs and
subparallel flanking fractures). When this flexure has been modeled, a simple elastic lithosphere
has typically been assumed; however, the generally thin lithospheres suggested by these models
require very high heat flows that are inconsistent with Europa’s expected thermal budget (of
order 1 W m-2 vs. of order 10 mW m-2). Each of the proposed formational models, however,
predicts a thermal anomaly that may facilitate the flexure of Europa’s lithosphere. Here, we
simulate this flexure in the presence of these anomalies, as a means to evaluate the different
models of ridge formation. We find that nearly all models of double ridge formation are
inconsistent with the observation of flexure (specifically the flanking fractures), except for a
cryovolcanic model in which the growing ridge is underlain by a cryomagmatic sill that locally
heats and thins the lithosphere.