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Cleopatra Crater on Venus: Venera 15/16 data and impact/volcanic origin controversy
Author(s) -
Basilevsky A. T.,
Ivanov B. A.
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i002p00175
Subject(s) - caldera , cleopatra , impact crater , volcano , venus , geology , mars exploration program , volcanism , astrobiology , seismology , paleontology , tectonics , physics
Cleopatra structure is a 100–km diameter feature having a morphology similar to that of double–ring basins of the Moon and Mercury and dissimilar to that of volcanic calderas on Mars, Earth, and Venus. The 2.4–km depth of Cleopatra is anomalously large compared to venusian and terrestrial impact craters of equivalent diameters. An impartial summary of the situation is as follows: if Cleopatra is a volcanic caldera, it is a strange caldera; if Cleopatra is an impact crater, it is a strange crater.