LAUSR

Abstract Historical efforts to model structures underlying planetary tectonic landforms have prioritized characterizing the dips, depths, and orientations of faults. Vertical displacement of rock along faults has been assumed to produce observed positive topography. Model-derived fault parameters and values for fault displacement and strain have been estimated, and these estimates have then been used to describe strain accumulated within regions of a planet or within entire planetary lithospheres. Previous modeling efforts have used finite element methods to reproduce topography associated with structure-related landforms, with acceptable models being determined through statistical best-fit testing. The approach presented in this work describes how software originally designed for industrial applications can be used in combination with the interpretation of topography and imagery to inform our understanding of the subsurface complexity of structures including faults and folds through a case study of ten structures in a smooth plains unit on Mercury. A detailed approach is provided for three-dimensional modeling of subsurface faults and folds, working with qualitative and semi-quantitative criteria for acceptable or successful models, and using those models to determine the relative importance of faulting and folding on topographic development. Through these details, this work seeks to break through the black box often associated with modeling, with the potential to support genuinely reproducible research.