Volcanoes on Venus
Volcanoes on Venus
NASA's Magellan mission confirmed the theory based on earlier missions that the surface of Venus was globally shaped by volcanoes around half a billion years ago. The reason for this is presumably the lack of plate tectonics, which, like the valve of a pressure cooker, drains excess pressure and thus energy from the interior of the planet like a thermostat. The image shows a 3D rendering of the 4000-metre-high Maat Mons volcano derived from radar data from the Magellan orbiter. Light and dark reflect surface properties in radar data, rough surfaces reflect the radar waves dark, smooth surfaces light.
Credit:
NASA/JPL/USGS