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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 110, E03001, doi:10.1029/2004JE002280, 2005

Poludnista Dorsa, Venus: History and context of a deformation belt

D. A. Young

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota at Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, USA


V. L. Hansen

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota at Duluth, Duluth, Minnesota, USA


Abstract

Rolling lowlands comprise 80% of Venus's surface, and thus developing a geological understating of resurfacing and tectonism is critical for our understanding of Venus' evolution. In this paper, global, regional, and local approaches to interpreting Magellan synthetic aperture radar and altimetry radar data are used to constrain modes of lowland evolution, convection processes, and lithospheric structure. Detailed geologic mapping is combined with altimetry data test models of deformation belt evolution in Venus's lowlands. Poludnista Dorsa, a complex 2000-km-long deformation belt, is highly segmented and broadly time transgressive. Long-wavelength deformation is spatially independent of local short-wavelength deformation within the deformation belt and temporally predates regional deformation marked by wrinkle ridges. A mechanically layered lithosphere of regional extent is not required by the local geologic history; local lithospheric thinning or progressive regional thickening of the mechanical layer better explains the observed sequence of events.

Received 18 April 2004; accepted 22 October 2004; published 5 March 2005.

Keywords: Venus; deformation belts; tectonics.

Index Terms: 6295 Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Venus; 5475 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Tectonics (8149); 5480 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450); 5494 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Instruments and techniques; 8005 Structural Geology: Folds and folding.

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Citation: Young, D. A., and V. L. Hansen (2005), Poludnista Dorsa, Venus: History and context of a deformation belt, J. Geophys. Res., 110, E03001, doi:10.1029/2004JE002280.