There are few large, smooth lava flows on Venus, and they are rarely found on the rolling plains. Although the range of incidence angles provided by Magellan is not optimal for the mapping of radar-dark flows on Venus that might be the equivalent of pahoehoe flows on Earth, there are a few examples such as the one seen here. In this example from Lavinia Planitia (55°S, 354°E), the dark flow at the top of the image may be a compound pahoehoe flow field similar to the smooth compound lava flows seen on Kilauea Volcano (slide #4). Magellan F-MIDRP.55S355;1. Right click here to download a high-resolution version of the image (2.92 MB) |