Study of four different regions on Europa imaged by the Galileo spacecraft
during its first 15 orbits has revealed 117 strike-slip faults. Europa appe
ars to form preferentially right-lateral faults in the southern hemisphere
and left-lateral faults in the northern hemisphere. This observation is con
sistent with a model where diurnal tides due to orbital eccentricity drive
strike-slip motion through a process of "walking," in which faults open and
close out of phase with alternating right-and left-lateral shear, Lineamen
ts that record both left-and right-lateral motion (e.g., Agave Linea) may r
ecord the accommodation of compression in nearby chaotic zones. Nearly all
identified strike-slip faults were associated with double ridges or bands,
and few were detected along ridgeless cracks. Thus the depth of cracks with
out ridges does not appear to have penetrated to the low-viscosity decoupli
ng layer, required for diurnal displacement, but cracks that have developed
ridges do extend down to such a level. This result supports a model for ri
dge formation that requires cracks to penetrate to a decoupling layer, such
as a liquid water ocean.