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Venusian tectonics: convective coupling to the lithosphere?
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Phillips, R. J. |
| Copyright Year | 1987 |
| Description | The relationship between the dominant global heat loss mechanism and planetary size has motivated the search for tectonic style on Venus. Prior to the American and Soviet mapping missions of the past eight years, it was thought that terrestrial style plate tectonics was operative on Venus because this planet is approximately the size of the Earth and is conjectured to have about the same heat source content per unit mass. However, surface topography mapped by the altimeter of the Pioneer Venus spacecraft did not show any physiographic expression of terrestrial style spreading ridges, trenches, volcanic arcs or transform faults, although the horizontal resolution was questionable for detection of at least some of these features. The Venera 15 and 16 radar missions mapped the northern latitudes of Venus at 1 to 2 km resolution and showed that there are significant geographic areas of deformation seemingly created by large horizontal stresses. These same high resolution images show no evidence for plate tectonic features. Thus a fundamental problem for venusian tectonics is the origin of large horizontal stresses near the surface in the apparent absence of plate tectonics. |
| File Size | 209471 |
| Page Count | 3 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19870014084 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t5v74b30b |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1987-05-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Lunar And Planetary Exploration Convective Heat Transfer Venus Planet Geological Faults Geological Surveys Radar Maps Topography Lithosphere Venus Surface Pioneer Venus Spacecraft Tectonics Venera Satellites Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Technical Report |
