Ganymede: Complex tectonism | PIA01091 | ||
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Complex tectonism is evident in these images of Ganymede's surface. | ||
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Image
Credit:
JPL, Brown University |
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Complex tectonism is evident in these images of Ganymede's surface. The solid state imaging camera on NASA's Galileo spacecraft imaged this region as it passed Ganymede during its second orbit through the Jovian system. The 80 km-wide lens- shaped feature in the center of the image is located at 32 degrees latitude and 188 degrees longitude along the border of a region of ancient dark terrain known as Marius Regio, and is near an area of younger bright terrain named Nippur Sulcus. | ![]() |
The
tectonism that created the structures in the bright terrain nearby has strongly
affected the local dark terrain to form unusual structures such as the one
shown here. The lens-like appearance of this feature is probably due to
shearing of the surface, where areas have slid past each other and also
rotated slightly. Note that in several places in these images, especially
around the border of the lens-shaped feature, bright ridges appear to turn
into dark grooves. Analysis of the geologic structures in areas like this
are helping scientists to understand the complex tectonic history of Ganymede. North is to the top-left of the image, and the sun illuminates the surface from the southeast. The image covers an area about 63 km by 120 km across at a resolution of 188 meters per picture element. The images were taken on September 6, 1996 at a range of 18,522 kilometers by the solid state imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft. |
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