Tectonics on Venus, Earth, and Mars

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Tectonics on Venus, Earth, and Mars
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Outline

• Introduction
• Past and present tectonics on
• Earth
• Mars
• Venus
• Discussion/Conclusions
• Questions

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• Why do we study other planets?
• Resources
• Colonization
• Interest
• Methods used
• Synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
• Surface images
• Landers and rovers
• Some Basics

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• Earth
• Earth is divided into chemically and physically
  distinct layers.
• Plates (Lithosphere) move on top of weaker
  Asthenosphere.
• Driving forces of plate tectonics
• Mantle drag
• Ridge push
• Slab Pull

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Earth Plate Boundaries

• 3 types of plate boundaries
• Divergent
• Transform
• Convergent

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Earth Plate boundaries II
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Mars

• Internal structure is not very well known
• Crust (25-70km)
• Mantle(1300-1800km)
• Core(1500-2000km)
• Evidence for past tectonic activities
• Magnetic field
• Tectonic features on surface
• Wrinkle Edges
• Tharsis
• Elysium
• Valles Marineris

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Mars Tharsis Elysium

• Shield Volcanoes
• 2 regions experiencing major up-wrapping
• Tharsis
• Elysium

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Mars Possible Mechanism

• Relative Location of Tharsis Elysium
• Mantle Upwelling Model
• Dating

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Mars Valles Marineris

• Huge Canyons (4,500 km long, 200 km wide and up
  to 5.7 km deep)
• Debatable evidence for plate tectonics
• Suggesting large-scale extension at one point of
  planets history

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Venus

• Volcanic Activity
• Possible internal structure
• Crust (50km)
• Mantle(3000km)
• Core(3000km)
• No evidence of tectonic plates
• Features associated with tectonic plates present
• Fold, fault, volcanoes, large mountains and rift
  valleys

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Venus - Deformations

• Volcanic Activity
• Nature of deformation and mantle compared to
  Earth
• Scale of deformation

A picture of surface taken by Venera -14
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Conclusions

• Similar internal structures
• Composition
• Evidence of Tectonics
• Volcanoes
• Deformational structures
• Nature of tectonic activity