UNRAVELING THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL HISTORIES OF FAULTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLARITAS RISE REGION, MARS

The formation of the Tharsis rise has dominated the geologic and tectonic histories of Mars since its formation. Claritas rise is a distinct promontory located along the southwestern margin of Tharsis. The ancient promontory may provide key information on the early development of Tharsis. Claritas, with a significant percentage of faults preserved in Noachian materials of the western hemisphere centered about it, forms the northwest part of the Thaumasia highlands mountain range. The length of the Thaumasia highlands mountain range nears that of the Himalayas of Earth. Claritas rise occurs along an enormous rift system and is composed of highly deformed mountainous materials interpreted to be ancient basement crust. The Claritas-rise region has been mapped and characterized as a center of activity, including magmatic-driven uplift and associated tectonism. Because it spatially registers with a magnetic signature, the activity is interpreted to mark either incipient Tharsis development, or more likely, pre-Tharsis activity, when the Martian dynamo was in operation. In this presentation, we plan on presenting our preliminary analysis of the type and ages of the major fault systems identified within the Claritas region.