This computer-generated 3D model of Venus’ surface shows the volcano Sif Mons, which is exhibiting signs of ongoing activity. Using data from NASA’s Magellan mission, Italian researchers detected evidence of an eruption while the spacecraft orbited the planet in the early 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltechin the early 1990s, adding to previous discoveries of volcanic activity.
Maat Mons is displayed in this computer-generated, three-dimensional perspective of the surface of Venus. The viewpoint is located 634 kilometers north of Maat Mons at an elevation of 3 kilometers above the terrain. Lava flows extend for hundreds of kilometers across the fractured plains shown in the foreground, to the base of Maat Mons. NASA Magellan mission synthetic aperture radar data is combined with radar altimetry to develop a three-dimensional map of the surface.
This Magellan full resolution mosaic, centered at 12.3 north latitude, 8.3 degrees east longitude, shows an area 160 kilometers by 250 kilometers in the Eistla region of Venus. The prominent circular features are volcanic domes, 65 kilometers in diameter with broad, flat tops less than one kilometer in height. Sometimes referred to as ‘pancake’ domes, they represent a unique category of volcanic extrusions on Venus formed from viscous lava.
Using flows on Earth as a comparison, the researchers estimate new rock that was emplaced in both locations to be between 10 and 66 feet deep, on average. They also estimate that the Sif Mons eruption produced about 12 square miles of rock — enough to fill at least 36,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. The Niobe Planitia eruption produced about 17 square miles of rock, which would fill 54,000 Olympic swimming pools.