Evidence of thrust faulting and widespread contraction of ceres

ABSTRACT The surface of the dwarf planet Ceres is considered to be dominated by geological processes typical of small bodies or medium-sized icy bodies, such as impact cratering1,2; there

are also features of putative cryovolcanic origin3 as well as those related to flow of near-surface ice4. Extensional features4,5,6 include regional linear troughs, fractures and pit chains,

fractures associated with impact craters and with crater floors, and polygonal craters whose walls seem to be structurally controlled. However, no contractional features, which are related

to thrust fault activity more typical of large silicate bodies7,8,9,10,11, have been described. Here we report the presence of scarps, ridges and fractures associated with thrust faults,

tectonically raised terrains and thrusted craters—all contractional features. These structures closely resemble thrust-fault-related lobate scarps on Mercury7,8 and Mars9,10, albeit with

lower displacement. They seem more abundant in high-latitude ancient terrains, perhaps owing to illumination effects that aid identification. The observed deformation implies that the

crustal material is stronger than water ice but weaker than silicate rocks, consistent with our current knowledge of crustal composition12 and rheology13. These features suggest that

large-scale contraction, possibly related to differentiation processes, occurred in the history of Ceres. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription

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* Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS POST-IMPACT CRYO-HYDROLOGIC FORMATION OF SMALL MOUNDS AND

HILLS IN CERES’S OCCATOR CRATER Article 10 August 2020 COEVAL UPPER CRUSTAL EXTENSION AND SURFACE UPLIFT IN THE CENTRAL TAURIDES (TÜRKIYE) ABOVE THE CYPRUS SUBDUCTION ZONE Article Open

access 25 April 2025 HOT CORDILLERAN HINTERLAND PROMOTED LOWER CRUST MOBILITY AND DECOUPLING OF LARAMIDE DEFORMATION Article Open access 04 May 2024 DATA AVAILABILITY The data that support

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2016); https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Ceres/Dawn/DLR/FramingCamera/Ceres_Dawn_FC_HAMO_DTM_DLR_Global_60ppd_Oct2016 Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work by A.J.-D. was

supported by a Juan de la Cierva-Formación postdoctoral contract (ref. FJCI-2016-28878) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. L.M.P. was supported by an FPU

grant (2014/04842) from the Spanish Ministry of Education, and is a Graduate Fellow of the Madrid City Council (Spain) at the Residencia de Estudiantes, 2018–2019. This work received funding

from the Santander-UCM 2018 project (ref. PR75/18-21613). This paper is dedicated to the memory of F. Mansilla Gómez. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Departamento de

Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Javier Ruiz, Federico Mansilla & Laura M. Parro * Instituto

de Ciencias de la Tierra Jaume Almera, ICTJA, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain Alberto Jiménez-Díaz * Departamento de Física Aplicada, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad de Cádiz, Puerto

Real, Spain Isabel Egea-González * Operations Department, European Space Astronomy Centre (ESA/ESAC), Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain Michael Küppers Authors * Javier Ruiz View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Alberto Jiménez-Díaz View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *

Federico Mansilla View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Laura M. Parro View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar * Isabel Egea-González View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Michael Küppers View author publications You can also search for

this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS J.R. had the initial suspicion about thrust faults on Ceres, designed the study and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. F.M. prepared

the image mosaics. F.M and M.K. prepared topographic models. A.J.-D., F.M., L.M.P. and I.E.-G. performed the first-round survey on the Dawn imagery. J.R., A.J.-D., F.M., L.M.P. and I.E.-G.

contributed to the final survey and to the examination and validation of candidate thrust faults. L.M.P. compiled and systematized the results. I.E.-G. performed the thrust orientation and

crater density analyses. A.J.-D., F.M., L.M.P., I.E.-G. and J.R. designed and produced the figures. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

Correspondence to Javier Ruiz. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PEER REVIEW INFORMATION: _Nature Astronomy_ thanks

Christian Klimczak and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to

jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary Figs. 1–9, Supplementary Table 1, Supplementary

references. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Ruiz, J., Jiménez-Díaz, A., Mansilla, F. _et al._ Evidence of thrust faulting and widespread

contraction of Ceres. _Nat Astron_ 3, 916–921 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0803-2 Download citation * Received: 15 October 2018 * Accepted: 07 May 2019 * Published: 01 July

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