Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 6 March 1998:
Vol. 279. no. 5356, pp. 1514 - 1517
DOI: 10.1126/science.279.5356.1514
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Origin of Mountains on Io by Thrust Faulting and Large-Scale Mass Movements

Paul M. Schenk, * Mark H. Bulmer

Voyager stereoimages of Euboea Montes, Io, indicate that this mountain formed when a large crustal block was uplifted 10.5 kilometers and tilted by approximately 6 degrees. Uplift triggered a massive slope failure on the northwest flank, forming one of the largest debris aprons in the solar system. This slope failure probably involved relatively unconsolidated layers totaling approximately 2 kilometers in thickness, overlying a rigid crust (or lithosphere) at least 11 kilometers thick. Mountain formation on Io may involve localized deep-rooted thrust faulting and block rotation, due to compression at depth induced during vertical recycling of Io's crust.

P. M. Schenk, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
M. H. Bulmer, Center for Earth and Planetary Science, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schenk{at}lpi3.jsc.nasa.gov

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Structural analysis and analogue modeling of the kinematics and dynamics of rockslide avalanches.
T. Shea and B. van Wyk de Vries (2008)
Geosphere 4, 657-686
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Chaos on Io: A model for formation of mountain blocks by crustal heating, melting, and tilting.
W. B. McKinnon, P. M. Schenk, and A. J. Dombard (2001)
Geology 29, 103-106
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Galileo at Io: Results from High-Resolution Imaging.
A. S. McEwen, M. J. Belton, H. H. Breneman, S. A. Fagents, P. Geissler, R. Greeley, J. W. Head, G. Hoppa, W. L. Jaeger, T. V. Johnson, et al. (2000)
Science 288, 1193-1198
   Abstract »    Full Text »
The Galilean Satellites.
A. P. Showman and a. R. Malhotra (1999)
Science 286, 77-84
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)