MAIN FAULT TECTONICS OF MESHKENET TESSERA ON VENUS

The lengthy Meshkenet Tessera highland located between Ishtar Terra an d coronae of the Nightingale group provides evidence of large-scale cr ustal movements. Its complex tectonic structures have various deformat ion geometries, thus indicating different tectonic sequences. The main parallel faults, first explained as rotational bookshelf faults, are more likely to due to relative dextral direct shear movements of recta ngular blocks. These faults have been active, possibly due to endogeni c stresses, as indicated by mid-size ridge ranges which connect them t o some of the large coronae. There are some compressional ridge belts around Meshkenet Tessera, while deformation within the tessera blocks has mostly been extensional.