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Magellan unveils Venus

Journal Article · · Aerospace America; (United States)
OSTI ID:5191687
Images obtained after an eight month Venusian year, during which the radar mapper Magellan surveyed nearly all of Venus, are described. It is observed that, instead of rigid plates moving as on earth, Venus appears covered with plumes of hot upwellings that dome out over hundreds or thousands of kilometers, feeding a continuous volcanic resurfacing of the planet. Although the Venusian surface is changing relatively rapidly by vulcanism and tectonic processes, the Magellan images make it clear that erosion is very slow. It is seen that some of the lava flows are highly fluid, etching narrow channels for hundreds of kilometers through the crust. Magellan also revealed some peculiarly Venusian formations, the tesserated areas where ridges and faults crosshatch the region into large blocks.
OSTI ID:
5191687
Journal Information:
Aerospace America; (United States), Journal Name: Aerospace America; (United States) Vol. 29; ISSN AEAME; ISSN 0740-722X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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