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Stacking lake ice analog cryotectonic dynamics on Dione`s Wispy Terrain
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1  Faculty of Oceanology, Kobe University
Academic Editor: Giacomo Tommei

Published: 15 February 2023 by MDPI in 2nd Electronic Conference on Universe session Space and Planetary Sciences
Abstract:

Ideas often have unexpected sources, for example, a randomly appeared viral video, unwittingly found during a short break while working on the detailed geological mapping of a certain region on Dione, one of the icy satellites of Saturn. The target area of the study is located on the trailing hemisphere of the satellite. Following the analysis of Voyager images, it was named Wispy Terrain, referring to the frequent appearance of wispy streaks, markings, or lineas. The higher resolution images of Cassini spacecraft revealed that the Wispy Terrain and the so-called chasmata or chasm system consist of quasi-parallel graben, troughs, in parts with horsts, indicating extensional and shear stresses in Dione`s icy crust. Besides the basic, satellite-scale geological mapping and very general definition of the phenomenon, there are only a few studies with a focus on the Wispy Terrain and the chasmata, mostly targeting e.g., the timing of its formation. This study aims to fill this gap by providing a detailed geological and cryotectonic facies analysis in the surroundings of Eurotas and Palatine Chasmata, and proposing additional cryotectonic processes and formation model, an analog of stacking lake ice, observed e.g. at Lake Superior. The study of the relationship between impact craters and tectonic features (supposed fault systems) revealed the “lost” of half of some crosscut craters, indicating additional horizontal movements, the appearance of accretion prism-like phenomenon, and theoretically, subsumption-like processes. Such observation provides new information about surface renewal processes around Dione`s one of the youngest and probably still active regions.

Keywords: Wispy Terrain; Dione; Saturn; icy satellite; subsumption; accretion; resurfacing;
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