VENUS BANDED TERRAIN: TECTONIC MODELS FOR BAND FORMATION AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO LITHOSPHERIC THERMAL STRUCTURE.

Abstract

The paper first reviews the characteristics of banded terrain in Ishtar Terra, particularly the evidence for a tectonic origin and such important details of band geometry as the spacing between adjacent bands. In following sections both folding and extensional models for band formation against these observed features of band geometry are tested. It is shown that both classes of models are possible explanations of banded terrain as long as the outer elastic-brittle layer of the Venus crust is, at most, a few kilometers thick. Finally, a general assessment is made of hypotheses for the origin of banded terrain and of the relationship between the mechanical models for band formation presented here and the thermal structure of the Venus lithosphere.