Displacement-length relations of thrust faults associated with lobate scarps on Mercury and Mars: Comparison with terrestrial faults

The displacement D and length L of thrust faults associated with lobate sca rps on Mercury and Mars are estimated from topographic and planimetric meas urements. D ranges from 0.29 to 3.58 km for mercurian thrust faults (n = 10 ) and from 0.27 km to 2.90 km for martian thrust faults (n = 13). The D-L r elationship between thrust fault populations analyzed on Mercury and Mars i s very similar (gamma (Mercury) = 6.5 +/- 3.2 x 10(-3), gamma (Mars) = 5.9 +/- 2.0x10(-3)), and about an order of magnitude lower than terrestrial thr ust faults. The difference is probably dominated by the contrast in tectoni c setting between terrestrial thrust faults and those on Mercury and Mars. The similarity in morphology and the D-L relationship of the mercurian and martian thrust faults may be due to the similarity in mechanical properties of the deformed materials and the acceleration due to gravity of the two p lanets.