Tectonic history of the Tharsis Region, Mars

The faults of the Tharsis region of Mars have been mapped and delineated on the basis of age. The orientation of each group of faults was analyzed to determine if they were radial to a point. The results indicate that there are at least four discrete centers of faulting within the Tharsis area which are of significantly different age. The four centers proposed are, from oldest to youngest, (1) in the Thaumasia highlands, (2) in northern Syria Planum, and finally, (3) and (4) near Pavonis Mons. While episodes 3 and 4 occupy the same geographic position, they are separated in time by the development of the Tharsis lava plains and shields. Each episode of tectonism was separated from the next by a period of major basaltic volcanism. The tectonic features of the Tharsis area are thus viewed as being the cumulative result of the superposition of several discrete episodes of faulting, rather than the result of one episode about a single point.