Earth and Planetary Science Letters 211 (2003) 45^55

www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl

A 400-km-scale strike-slip zone near the boundary of

Thetis Regio, Venus
G.W. Tuckwell a;
, R.C. Ghail b
a

School of Earth Sciences and Geography, Keele University, Keele, Staordshire, ST5 5BG, UK
b
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BP, UK

Received 13 August 2002; received in revised form 19 February 2003; accepted 28 February 2003

Abstract
We present a structural analysis of an area of Venus surface centred on 3S, 116E. The area is dominated by a
wide zone of deformation striking 050N, distinguished from the terrain on either side of it by markedly different
structural and morphological characteristics. The deformation zone contains two principal fault sets defined by form,
position and orientation. Members of the first set are present along the length of the deformation zone. They are
discontinuous, consistently right-stepping, and are interpreted as Riedel shears in a sinistral strike-slip regime.
Members of the second fault set are interpreted as normal faults and are often seen in pairs forming extensional
grabens. These faults are most prominent in the central region of the deformation zone, and coincide with a deflection
in strike of both the first fault set and the boundaries of the deformation zone. A detailed kinematic analysis of all
fault orientations and the boundaries of the deformation zone fit the predictions of transtensional theory, supporting
the hypothesis that this sinistral strike-slip zone contains an extensional jog. This interpretation is further supported
by analysis of the interaction between faults belonging to the two sets. Variation in intercept geometry, kinematic
linking of the two fault sets, and rotation of fault strike between the two fault sets all strongly suggest simultaneous
development of these structures, and therefore a common tectonic origin. A driving mechanism for such large-scale
horizontal deformation on Venus has yet to be established.
5 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Venus; strike-slip; faulting; transtension; tectonics

1. Introduction
Western Aphrodite Terra consists of two continental-sized upland areas, Ovda and Thetis Regiones, that straddle the equatorial region of Ve-

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-(0)1782-583176;

Fax: +44-(0)1782-583737.
E-mail addresses: g.w.tuckwell@esci.keele.ac.uk
(G.W. Tuckwell), r.ghail@imperial.ac.uk (R.C. Ghail).

nus for nearly a quarter of the circumference (Fig.

1a). These two regions are both dominated by
tesserae terrain [1^4], the origin of which remains
controversial [5,6]. The relationship between the
two highlands is not clear; they are separated
by a narrow belt of lowland plains, basins, and
fracture systems which have not previously been
mapped in detail.
A 2500-km-long, 200-km-wide, more or less linear deformation zone, oriented at 050N, separates the Ovda and Thetis highlands. The area

0012-821X / 03 / $ ^ see front matter 5 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00128-6

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G.W. Tuckwell, R.C. Ghail / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 211 (2003) 45^55

Fig. 1. (a) Shaded-relief topography of Ovda (left highland) and Thetis (right highland); white is high, black is low. Box indicates
position of (b). Mercator projection, Magellan GTDR data. (b) Right-looking Magellan SAR context image of the northwest
portion of Thetis Regio; light is rough terrain, dark is smooth. Box indicates position of Figs. 2a and 3a. Unless otherwise
stated, all images in this paper are Mercator projected Magellan Cycle 2 (right-looking) SAR data.

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47

Volcanic
plains

c
Tesserae

ne

-sl

e
rik

o
pz

Basin
plains

St

Partly buried
earlier structures
100 km

Buried
Faults
Onlapping
Plains
Faulted
Contact

Onlapping
Plains

Fig. 2. (a) Sketch image of strike-slip zone (see Fig. 3), outlining features referred to in text and the locations of the full resolution insets. (b) An example of the onlap relationship between the plains that underlie the fault zone and the tesserae northwest
of it. (c) Detail illustrating the complex relationship between the fault zone and the volcanic plains north of it. There is evidence
of a faulted contact, an onlap contact, and some indication of faults inundated by the volcanic plains.

mapped in this study, located between 4S, 114E

and 2S, 118E, lies on a bend of this lineation
towards its northeastern end, 200 km directly
north of the westernmost limit of Thetis Regio.
In earlier work, Davis and Ghail [7] identied
Riedel shears, antithetic Riedel shears, P-shears
and releasing-bend folds, along a V500-km-long
section of this deformation zone, and interpreted
it as a sinistral strike-slip fault network. Detailed
structural analysis of a sub-section of their
mapped area is presented in this paper to achieve

three principal objectives : (1) to test the hypothesis of sinistral strike-slip motion, (2) to establish
the regional kinematics of deformation, and (3) to
constrain the magnitude of relative motion.

2. Observations
The general features of the mapped area are
outlined in Fig. 2a. The fault system is bounded
to the north by an isolated block of tesserae and

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to the south by a plains-lled basin. The mapped

faults cut (and are therefore younger than) undierentiated plains units that onlap the isolated
tesserae block to the northwest (Fig. 2b). This
portion of tesserae is at a lower elevation,
2900 m (elevations are referenced to the 6051
km radius level and are taken from revised Magellan altimeter data (Ford, pers. commun.)), than
the main body of Thetis Regio (which has an
average elevation greater than 4000 m) to the
southeast, and it is also separated from the main
body of Ovda Regio by another fracture system
to the west. The fault system itself is at an intermediate elevation (1450 m), while the basin that
extends between it and the main body of Thetis
Regio is 900 m lower, at an elevation of 550 m.
Faults associated with the mapped system cut
the plains inlling the basin, and are younger than
it. The plains can be variously described as mottled plains [8], smooth plains [9] and slightly lobate plains [10]. The mean age of such plains is
(1.01 M 0.19)T, (1.21 M 0.16)T and between 0.1 T
and T, respectively, where T is the mean surface
age (crater retention age) of Venus, currently estimated at 700^800 Ma [11]. Caution must be exercised in applying these mean ages to such a
specic small locality as this basin but, nonetheless, it is likely that it is old. Another area of
plains units, to the north, is more problematic.
The boundary between the fault system and these
plains is sharp and distinct but not clearly faulted.
Small shield volcanoes can be identied in this
area but ow boundaries are dicult to identify.
It is possible that the volcanism and faulting are
syntectonic, but their age relationship cannot be
stated with condence. The region immediately to
the south of the fault system is of uncertain origin; it appears that there has been more than one
episode of deformation before a nal partial burial by the plains material through which the fault
zone cuts. Hence these structures are older and

49

are not likely to be related to the fault zone analysed in this paper.
Within the fault zone are two distinct fault sets
(Fig. 3a,b). The principal set, termed Fault Set 1,
extends throughout the deformation zone. Fault
scarp traces are often irregular along strike, making measurements of orientation problematic. We
have made all measurements from tip-to-tip
rather than breaking the fault into linear segments. This has the eect that the distribution
of orientations will have a variation about a maximum reecting the processes of fault interaction
and linkage during fault growth [12,13]. In a number of areas, faults are clearly arranged en echelon. In every case such arrangements are rightstepping (Fig. 4b.i). The predominant orientation
of this principal fault set is not constant throughout the mapped area. In the central region, the
predominant orientation of the faults is rotated
by V10 anticlockwise to that in the eastern
and western regions (Figs. 3 and 5). This rotation
coincides with a change in orientation of the
boundaries of the deformation zone.
Faults of Set 2 are distinguishable by their orientation and position. Faults in this set are most
prominent in the central region, and coincide with
the change in orientation of the boundaries of the
deformation zone. The predominant orientation is
oblique to the trend of the deformation zone
(V40). Faults in this set are extensional, and in
some cases occur in antithetic pairs to form long
grabens (Fig. 4b.ii).
The detail of the intersection and linkage geometry of these two identied fault sets is shown in
Fig. 4, together with both the right and left looking Magellan data from which the interpretation
was derived. This area has been chosen as being
representative of the relationship between the
principal fault sets (see Fig. 3 for location), and
for its coverage by both radar look directions.
Although individual intercepts and fault traces

6
Fig. 3. (a) Magellan right-looking data for the area between 5S, 113E and 1S, 119E. The white box indicates the location of
the data in Fig. 4. (b) Structural lineaments interpreted as fault scarps. Dashed lines indicate dip-slip extensional faults, rose diagram is length weighted. (c) Schematic interpretation indicating the geometry and kinematics of the deformation zone. The predicted orientations of Riedel shears, extensional faults and compressive structures are shown.

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G.W. Tuckwell, R.C. Ghail / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 211 (2003) 45^55

25 km

iv

iii
ii

b.ii
b.i
Fig. 4. Magellan imagery and structural interpretation of a section of the study area between 116.2E, 2.7S and 116.6E, 2.2S.
(a) Magellan Cycle 2 (right-looking) data. (b) Structural lineaments interpreted as fault scarps. The boxes highlight examples of:
(i) en-echelon right-stepping faults of Set 2 (enlarged separately below), (ii) fault abutment and a graben of Fault Set 1 (separately enlarged below), (iii) fault linkage, and (iv) curvature and splaying of faults. See main text for details. (c) Magellan Cycle
1 (left-looking) data. Black areas indicate data gaps.

are often complex, clear generalities may be

drawn from the map which provide insights into
the regional kinematics and relative timing. Geometrically, Fault Set 1 appears to dominate.
Faults in Set 2 often perform a physical linking
role between Set 1 faults (Fig. 4b.iii). In some
instances, however, faults in Set 1 can be seen
to terminate against those in Set 2 (Fig. 4b.ii).
Furthermore, Set 1 faults can be seen to curve
and/or splay such that their terminations are oriented parallel to Fault Set 2 (Fig. 4b.iv). The variation in intercept geometry, the linkage of the
two fault sets, and the rotation of fault strike of
individual faults, from parallel to Set 1 to parallel
to Set 2, point very clearly to simultaneous development of these structures, and therefore a common tectonic origin within a single regional kinematic regime.

3. Interpretation
The apparent linear zone of deformation, and
the orientation and nature of the faults, are consistent with sinistral strike-slip deformation. Analogue models, using clay, and driven by displacement boundary conditions to simulate shear and
transtension, have been presented by a number of
workers (e.g. [13^15]). In the models presented by
Clifton et al. [13], two fault sets, one with predominantly shear displacement and the other set
with predominantly extensional displacement, developed when the displacement vector was at an
angle of less than 45 to the trend of the deformation zone boundary. Shear faults often formed
in en echelon arrays which were right-stepping for
models with a component of sinistral shear motion. For pure strike-slip motion between the de-

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formation zone boundaries with no component

of extension, shear faults formed at a low angle
( 6 20) to the trend of the deformation zone
boundary. Dauteuil and Mart [14] observed that
shear faults in their models initiated at an angle
of V15 to the deformation zone boundary, and
rotated to steeper angles as the strain in the
model was increased. They further noted that individual shear fault traces were irregular along
strike, and fault scarps recorded complex slip behaviour. Shear faults also accommodated vertical
displacements with some adjacent segments of the
same fault having opposite senses of dip-slip motion.
The orientation and form of faults in Set 1 are
consistent with those of Riedel shears in a sinistral
strike-slip regime (Figs. 3 and 4). Fault Set 1 is
orientated at a low angle to the trend of the deformation zone boundary, and where en echelon
arrays are visible they are consistently right-stepping (Fig. 4b.ii). If the displacement vector is consistent along the entire length of the deformation
zone in the study area, the central region, where
there is a change in the orientation of the deformation zone boundaries, should form a gentle extensional jog, forming an oblique rift, and therefore a region of transtensional deformation.
Given the orientation of the deformation zone
boundaries, and the displacement vector interpreted from the eastern and western regions, predictions can be made about the nature and orientation of the faults in the central region against
which the structural interpretation and regional
kinematic model can be tested.
Sanderson and Marchini [16] have shown that

51

the innitesimal strain, and therefore the principal

stress axes, within a deformation zone can be predicted from the angle between the zone and the
displacement vector of the zone boundary. This
simple quantitative analysis rests on three assumptions: (1) volume is conserved, (2) lateral
extrusion or intrusion of material from or into
the deformation zone is prohibited, and (3) material is allowed to thicken and thin vertically.
These assumptions have been shown to be valid
in the majority of terrestrial examples of oblique
rifting, including those in which there is signicant magmatic input to the deforming volume
[17]. Following these assumptions, McCoss [18]
demonstrated that for a (initially undeformed)
unit square within the deformation zone (Fig.
6), the strain across the zone (K31 ) and the shear
strain parallel to the zone (Q) can be related to the
zones displacement vector S by:
K 31 13S cos A

and
Q S sin A=13S cos A

where A is the angle between the normal to the

tectonic zone boundary and S, and S = jSj. Therefore the triaxial deformation D is given by:

1

D  0
0

K 31 Q
K 31
0


0 
0 :
K

Furthermore, it was shown by McCoss [18] that

the angle, g, between the maximum principal horizontal compressive stress SH , and the boundary
of the tectonic zone is given by:

Fig. 5. (a^c) Length weighted rose diagrams for faults in the western, central, and eastern sections of the deformation zone respectively. Orientations of predicted principal compressive stress (SH ), predicted Riedel (R), and antithetic Riedel (RP) shear
faults, and the observed deformation zone boundary (B) are shown.

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g A=2

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This prediction is of particular use in areas of

transtension where extensional faults or fractures
are often well developed, and are oriented parallel
to SH .
Within our area of study, the orientations of
the deformation zone boundaries are dicult to
map precisely, but are estimated to vary by 10^
15, in an anticlockwise sense, in the central region (Fig. 2). The absolute error in predictions of
fault orientations through the application of
transtension theory is half of the absolute error
in the measurement of deformation zone boundary orientation (a 10 error in the measurement of
the zone boundary orientation translates to a 5
error in the prediction of SH orientation). Clearly,
there is also some uncertainty in the comparison
of predicted fault orientations with observations ;
however, the maxima in the observed orientation
data are well dened, and can be identied within
an estimated error of M 5. Taking these measurement errors into consideration, a consistent t
between predicted and observed fault orientations
for the eastern, central and western regions,
coupled with a systematic change in fault orientation of the correct polarity, and of magnitude
consistent with that predicted from theory, remains a powerful test of our kinematic interpretation. Assuming that the displacement vector is
parallel to the deformation zone boundaries for
the eastern and western regions, and is oriented
10 oblique to the trend of the boundary in the
central region, SH , and therefore extensional
faults, are predicted to trend at 40 to the boundary in the central region. This orientation ts
Fault Set 2 (Figs. 3b and 5). If the region to the
southeast of the deformation zone is taken to be
stationary, the vector of relative displacement, S,
is oriented at 238N, with an estimated maximum
error of M 10. Following the assumptions of Andersonian faulting theory [19], shear faults should
form at an angle of M 30 to SH . The orientations
of SH calculated from estimates of the displacement vector and the orientation of the deformation zone boundary, together with predicted orientations of Riedel and antithetic Riedel shears,
are shown in Fig. 5 for the eastern, central and

Fig. 6. A unit area with boundaries parallel and perpendicular to a zone of transtensional deformation. The relationship
between the boundary displacement vector S, the component
of stretching across the zone (K31 ) and shear parallel to the
zone (Q), and the maximum and minimum horizontal compressive stresses (SH and Sh , respectively) are shown. The angle A is measured from the perpendicular to the deformation
zone boundary, and g is measured from a line parallel to
the deformation zone boundary.

western regions. All observed fault trends agree

well with predictions (Figs. 3 and 5), and strongly
support the interpretation of a sinistral strike-slip
zone. Extensional faults and Riedel shears in the
central region t to an SH orientated between 5
and 10 anticlockwise compared with the faults in
the eastern and western regions, supporting the
interpretation of a change in orientation of the
boundaries to the deformation zone generating
an extensional jog in the central region.
The magnitude of the displacement vector is
less certain. Given the orientation of S, a value
for either Q or K31 would be enough to dene the
vector. In the absence of clear horizontal markers,
the measurement of cumulative shear displacement across the zone to yield a value for Q is
not possible. The measurement of cumulative extensional strain to yield a value for K31 is also
problematic. The most suitable area in which to
make the estimate from the observed deformation
is within the central transtensional zone. However, there are two diculties. Firstly, K31 cannot
be measured directly from observed extensional
structures since these accommodate a component
of the simple shear deformation as well as extension. It is possible, however, to use observed estimates of extension to give a value of V1 , the principal quadratic elongation of the strain ellipse.

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McCoss [18] derived the analytical relationship

between V1 , K31 and Q :
V 1 p=2 1=2p2 34q2 0:5

5a

where
p 1 K 32 Q 2 K 32

5b

and
q K 31

5c

The second diculty in estimating the magnitude

of S is that the spacing of the faults and the resolution of the imagery are such that it is not possible everywhere to distinguish unambiguously
whether a bright lineation is a single normal fault
or a pair of closely spaced normal faults forming
a graben. Given these constraints, we follow the
methodology employed by Koenig and Aydin [20]
to obtain upper and lower estimates for extension.
An upper estimate of extension is obtained if it is
assumed that each radar bright line represents a
fault that accommodates 500 m of extension. A
minimum estimate is provided by the assumption
that each lineament is a 500-m-wide graben with a
200-m-deep at oor bounded by normal faults
dipping at 60, giving an extension of 230 m per
lineament. No allowance is made for deformation
accommodated on structures below the resolution
of the imagery. Minimum and maximum values of
extension across the zone are thus estimated at 8.5
and 18.5 km, respectively, giving maximum and
minimum values of V1 of 1.08 and 1.2, respectively. These translate to a minimum estimated
strike-slip displacement of 7 km and a maximum
of 18 km. Given the measurement errors inherent
in the assumptions made, these gures are only an
indication of the likely magnitude of strike-slip
displacement, which is of the order of a few tens
of kilometres.

4. Discussion
Terrestrial eld observations [21^23] and laboratory experiments [24^26] indicate that a strikeslip fault generally consists of discontinuous fault
strands. This discontinuous property has been observed at all scales, from lithosphere [27] to small-

53

scale shear fractures at the sub-centimetre scales

[28]. The stepping direction of such fault discontinuities is determined by the shear sense of the
main fault: if the shear sense is right-lateral, fault
strands step left, and vice versa. Terrestrial examples of structures formed within extensional and
compressional jogs are many (see [26] and references therein). Comparison of such examples in
the light of transtensional theory strongly suggest
that the same structural processes are acting as in
the area of Venus lithosphere described here.
The driving mechanism for large-scale horizontal deformation is yet to be established, and will
become better constrained by further mapping,
interpretation and kinematic analysis of this and
other regions. It is possible that it is associated
with horizontal block motion in a sluggish-lid
mantle/lithosphere system [29], or as part of heterogeneous-lithosphere response to vertical deformation driven by mantle upwelling or downwelling. Since these structures appear to be the most
recent at this location, and the kinematics are well
constrained, it is possible that this deformation
zone may help to elucidate the overall kinematics
of the region. The most obvious large-scale structure with which the strike-slip zone may be associated is the Thetis tessera block. If the deformation zone were related to tesserae formation,
sinistral strike-slip displacement in this locality
would be consistent with late-stage extensional
spreading of Thetis. This interpretation ts the
predictions of the downwelling model [6] in which
tesserae are formed by compressional thickening
of the crust, which later deforms by gravitational
collapse. However, this interpretation remains
controversial in the light of competing generic
models of tessera formation [5], which are supported by specic observations of Ovda Regio
[30,31]. Furthermore, the tesserae block immediately adjacent to the strike-slip zone is not part of
the Thetis plateau, so it is equally possible that
these structures are unrelated to plateau formation. Without additional stratigraphic constraint
on the timing of deformation in the strike-slip
zone, and its spatial and temporal relationship
to tessera formation, it is not possible to directly
support or refute either model for tessera formation.

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5. Conclusions
The structures observed in this area imply a
tectonic and kinematic origin consistent with a
large-scale sinistral strike-slip zone containing an
extensional jog. The details of the interaction between the identied fault sets demonstrate simultaneous development, and support the hypothesis
of a common tectonic origin. An along-strike irregularity in the boundary of the deformation
zone has generated a zone of transtensional deformation from which relative kinematics between
the two sides of the deformation zone can be established with condence. If the region to the
southeast of the deformation zone is taken to be
stationary, the vector of relative displacement is
oriented at 238N, with a magnitude of the order
of tens of kilometres.
The methodology of structural analysis applied
here highlights the value of identication and
analysis of zones of oblique deformation in providing well constrained regional kinematic indicators. Future analyses of both geology and structure may provide valuable data to include in a
regional and perhaps global framework of relative
kinematics, and timing, of tectonic events.

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

Acknowledgements
We thank Amy Clifton, Laurent Montesi, Jay
Melosh, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful
and thorough reviews that have greatly improved
the manuscript. We acknowledge PDS Map-APlanet for providing the Magellan SAR data.
We also thank Craig Hutton for inuential discussions early in this work.[SK]

[12]

[13]

[14]

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