MAPPING AND ANALYSIS OF TECTONIC FEATURES ON ENCELADUS’S LEADING HEMISPHERE TERRAIN

We use an updated Cassini ISS basemap of Saturn’s moon Enceladus to create a detailed geological map of the satellite’s leading hemisphere terrain. We identify and describe the characteristics of the numerous ridges, troughs, fractures, graben, grooves, crater rim crests, and other possible faults visible on the highest resolution images available. Additional small-scale features, such as pit chains, are mapped where possible according to the quality (i.e. spatial resolution, emission angle, incidence angle) of available images. Limb profiles are analyzed for select locations that enable verification of specific feature geometry, such as the height and slopes of ridges. We divide the leading hemisphere terrain into geological units based on our mapping of their component linear features. The complex and diverse morphology suggest a multi-stage formation history. We analyze aspects of specific mapped tectonic features, including: orientations and heights of linear features with possible implications for determining lithospheric thickness; modeling tidal stresses along a previously unrecognized 200 km lineament; and brightness associated with possible plume deposition in comparison to models of E-ring particulate deposition. We also suggest a potential development sequence of parallel narrow chasmata into wider structures. The results of this mapping project are part of a larger effort to develop a global geological map of Enceladus to USGS specifications.