Lineament Domain Analysis to Unravel Tectonic Settings on Planetary Surfaces: Insights from the Claritas Fossae (Mars)

Abstract

Linear geo-textures are widely recognized on synthetic scaled images of planetary surfaces and consist of elongated alignments of tonal contrasts. When these linear patterns are clustered in azimuthal sets and organized in domains occurring on specific terranes, they reflect the structural grain of the crust and provide clues on the stress trajectories. In this way, the geostatistical analysis of lineament domains represents a useful tool to highlight the geotectonic settings of planetary surfaces. In this work, we applied a lineament domain analysis to better frame the tectonic evolution of the Claritas Fossae (CF) area on Mars, the origin of which is still debated, and both dip–slip and strike–slip tectonics have been described in the literature. A twofold approach was followed that included the identification of a linear pattern with manual and automatic approaches. The automatic method confirmed and validated the results of the manual detection. The statistical analysis of the identified lineaments showed their clustering in two domains that persisted on different terranes separated by the regionally sized scarp associated with the CF. This scarp is the surface manifestation of the CF crustal fault. The spatial distribution of the two domains and their constant angular relationship of about 30° allowed relating one domain to the main CF fault and the other domain to the extensional deformation associated with the fault kinematics. Our results suggest that the CF frames well within a regional setting characterized by right–lateral kinematics with about 20% transtension. Temporal constraints derive from the ages of the terrains where the two domains develop. On this basis, we propose that a first tectonic event occurred in the Noachian age followed by a reactivation occurring after the emplacement of the Late Hesperian lavas.

Geostatistical Analysis of Lineament Domains: The Study Case of the Apennine Seismic Province of Italy

“…For this reason, they are often considered with skepticism, and ambiguity may even result in their interpretation. Lineaments analyzed in the present study do not correspond to surface faults or fractures; rather, they represent surface the geotexture (e.g., [9]). Lineament texture results from weathering and erosional etching of the subtle features produced by extension in the brittle upper crust sitting above deeper crustal layers that behave in a more ductile fashion [2,7,9,12,13].…”

“…Lineaments analyzed in the present study do not correspond to surface faults or fractures; rather, they represent surface the geotexture (e.g., [9]). Lineament texture results from weathering and erosional etching of the subtle features produced by extension in the brittle upper crust sitting above deeper crustal layers that behave in a more ductile fashion [2,7,9,12,13]. In this way, lineaments represent the surface imprint of tectonic structures related to the structural architecture/crustal grain of the region.…”

“…Most planetary surfaces include linear features (called lineaments) that group into regional-scale subparallel populations, as revealed by synthetic scaled satellite images and digital representation of topography [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. These populations, which appear in the image as straight subtle anisotropies related to organized linear texture, are known as lineament domains (sensu [5,9]), and persist over regions spanning hundreds to thousands of square kilometers. Lineament domains occur in areas characterized by both nearly flat surface landscapes [8,10,11] and morphologies with moderate to high topographic contrast [4,7,[12][13][14].…”

“…Many scientists have erroneously tried to describe each lineament individually in terms of classical geological elements, such as fractures, faults, dykes, or crustal discontinuities (e.g., [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]). However, lineament domains are instead superficial manifestations of the crustal stress field trajectory-their mean azimuth is parallel to the maximum horizontal stress of the upper (rigid) crust of the region in which the domain occur [5,7,[9][10][11]14,25]. Hence, lineament domains relate to surficial features under the tectonic control of deep crustal features.…”

“…Lineament domain investigations in various geodynamic environments have previously been performed to: (i) highlight the tectonic setting and regional stress field of a region [3,7,9,10,12,[26][27][28]; (ii) better understand secondary permeability by identifying the directions of the most permeable faults and fractures in water/oil reservoirs [13,22,29,30]; (iii) to define the fracture pattern associated with main faults [9,31]; and (iv) to assess the volcano-tectonic setting and the fracture distribution in geothermal areas [23,[31][32][33][34][35]. All of these studies have revealed a relationship between lineament domains and recent/active tectonics in the studied region and confirm that they are indicators of active stress fields.…”