The Longest Channel

NASA image .

One of the remarkable surface features of Venus discovered by the high-resolution radar mapping mission of Magellan was this 200 kilometer (124 mile) segment of a sinuous channel on Venus. The channel is approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide.

Pancake Domes on Venus

One of the remarkable types of surface features of Venus imaged by the high-resolution radar mapping mission of Magellan were the pancake dome features. These flattened lava domes are attributed to upwellings of viscous molten rock which then subsided. The solid crust left behind then flattened and cracked. Such features were found in several location s on Venus by Magellan.

Coronae on Venus

Aine Corona is on the unique features of Venus imaged by the high-resolution radar mapping mission of Magellan. Found nowhere else in the solar system, these features are attributed to an upwelling of extremely viscous mantle material, causing the surface to bulge outward. Aine Corona is in the plains south of Aphrodite Terra. It is about 300 km across. The coronae usually have volcanoes in and around them and lava flows into the surrounding area. There is one of the pancake dome features at the top of the image; it is about 35 km in diameter. The white spots are impact craters with their surrounding ejecta. The prominent cracks in the surface are thought to form because magma beneath the surface follows pre-existing fracture patterns. When eruptions or other movements of the magma occur, the magma drains from the fractures and the overlying surface rock collapses. The smooth, flat region in the center of the corona is probably a relatively young lava flow.

The data for this image were obtained by Magellan in January 1991.