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Volcanism and resurfacing on Venus at the full resolution of Magellan SAR data
Author(s) -
Grindrod Peter M.,
Stofan Ellen R.,
Guest John E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2010gl043424
Subject(s) - venus , volcanism , geology , remote sensing , astrobiology , volcanology , volcano , seismology , physics , tectonics
We examine the importance of localized volcanism in resurfacing on Venus by analyzing the results of geologic mapping of a 12° × 12° area at the full resolution of Magellan SAR data. Resurfacing due to corona‐, ridge‐, and small volcano‐related volcanism accounts for 27%, 6%, and 10% respectively of the mapped area. Mapping at the resolution of Magellan data, rather than a regional scale, gives corona‐related flow unit areas that can differ individually by almost an order of magnitude, with a total increase of 28%, and more than three times as many identifiable units. A total of 2919 small volcanoes or vents less than 10 km in diameter were identified in the F‐Map, with a mean diameter of 1.59 (s.d. = 1.08) km and densities of up to 36 small volcanoes per 50 km 2 . Taken together, coronae, ridge eruptions, and small volcanoes probably make a significant contribution to resurfacing on Venus.