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We present a method for automatized detection and analysis of quasi-periodic lineament structures from images at pixel precision. The method exploits properties of the images' frequency domain found by using the Fourier transform. We developed this method with the goal of detecting lineament structures in an image of the Hathor cliff of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which are caused by layerings and furrows in the nucleus material. Using our method, we determined the orientation and wavelength range of these structures. The detected layering edges have similar orientations and spatial separations of 9–20 m, and are ubiquitous throughout the image. We suggest that the layerings are a global feature of the comet nucleus that provide information about formation and evolution of comet 67P. The furrows are non-uniformly distributed throughout the image. Their orientation is broadly parallel to the direction of the local gravity vector at the Hathor cliff, with spacings similar to those of the layering structures. The furrows are interpreted as signatures of local down-slope movement of cliff material. We demonstrate that the developed method is broadly applicable to the detection and analysis of various kinds of quasi-periodic structures like geological layering, folding and faulting, and texture analysis in general. In order to facilitate the application of our method, this paper is accompanied by a demo program written in matlab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analysed layering-related linear features on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P) to determine the internal configuration of the layerings within the nucleus. We used high-resolution images from the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera onboard the Rosetta spacecraft, projected on to the SHAP7 shape model of the nucleus, to map 171 layering-related linear features which we believe to represent terrace margins and strata heads. From these curved lineaments, extending laterally to up to 1925 m, we extrapolated the subsurface layering planes and their normals. We furthermore fitted the lineaments with concentric ellipsoidal shells, which we compared to the established shell model based on planar terrace features. Our analysis confirms that the layerings on the comet's two lobes are independent from each other. Our data are not compatible with 67P's lobes representing fragments of a much larger layered body. The geometry we determined for the layerings on both lobes supports a concentrically layered, 'onion-shell' inner structure of the nucleus. For the big lobe, our results are in close agreement with the established model of a largely undisturbed, regular, concentric inner structure following a generally ellipsoidal configuration. For the small lobe, the parameters of our ellipsoidal shells differ significantly from the established model, suggesting that the internal structure of the small lobe cannot be unambiguously modelled by regular, concentric ellipsoids and could have suffered deformational or evolutional influences. A more complex model is required to represent the actual geometry of the layerings in the small lobe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]