Venus: Tectonic Activity

Comparison of the Tectonic Conditions on Venus with Tectonic Conditions of Early Archean Earth

Distribution and Classification of Volcano - Tectonic Features of Venus

Introduction: Venus as a probable single-plate planet [1] has a unique set of volcano-tectonic features. The enigmatic circular structures, coronae are of great interest in particular. The corona definition does also include other concentric features known as the “arachnoids” [2], but it does not elaborate on the details of the concentric volcano-tectonic structures. In several cases, coronae a...

Sequence of tectonic deformation in the history of Venus: Evidence from global stratigraphic relationships

Analysis of local and regional stratigraphic relationships has permitted the assessment of the nature of tectonic structures and their distribution throughout the observed history of Venus, spanning the past several hundreds of millions of years. We find that shortening characteristic of intensely deformed tessera terrain gave way to widespread distributed fracturing and extension within the te...

Mechanisms for Lithospheric Heat Transport on Venus: Implications for Tectonic Style and Volcanism

The tectonic and volcanic characteristics of the surface of Venus are poorly known, but these characteristics must be closely related to the mechanism by which Venus rids itself of internal heat. On the other solid planets and satellites of the solar system, lithospheric heat [ransport is dominated by one of three mechanisms: (1) plate recycling, (2) lithospheric conduction, and (3) hot spot vo...

Relation of major volcanic center concentration on venus to global tectonic patterns.

Global analysis of NASA Magellan image data indicates that a major concentration of volcanic centers covering approximately 40 percent of the surface of Venus occurs between the Beta, Atla, and Themis regiones. Associated with this enhanced concentration are geological characteristics commonly interpreted as rifting and mantle upwelling. Interconnected low plains in an annulus around this conce...