%0 Journal Article
%A Ruiz Pérez, Javier
%A Williams, Jean-Pierre
%A Dohm, James M.
%A Fernández, Carlos
%A López, Valle
%T Ancient heat flow and crustal thickness at Warrego rise, Thaumasia highlands, Mars: Implications for a stratified crust
%D 2009
%@ 1054-1381
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49349
%X Heat flow calculations based on geological and/or geophysical indicators can help to constrain the thickness,and potentially the geochemical stratification, of the martian crust. Here we analyze the Warregorise region, part of the ancient mountain range referred to as the Thaumasia highlands. This region hasa crustal thickness much greater than the martian average, as well as estimations of the depth to the brittle–ductile transition beneath two scarps interpreted to be thrust faults. For the local crustal density(2900 kg m3) favored by our analysis of the flexural state of compensation of the local topography,the crustal thickness is at least 70 and 75 km at the scarp locations. However, for one of the scarp locationsour nominal model does not obtain heat flow solutions permitting a homogeneous crust as thick asrequired. Our results, therefore, suggest that the crust beneath the Warrego rise region is chemicallystratified with a heat-producing enriched upper layer thinner than the whole crust. Moreover, if the mantleheat flow (at the time of scarp formation) was higher than 0.3 of the surface heat low, as predicted bythermal history models, then a stratified crust rise seems unavoidable for this region, even if local heatproducingelement abundances lower than average or hydrostatic pore pressure are considered. Thisfinding is consistent with a complex geological history, which includes magmatic-driven activity.
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