7. Ridge Belt
Ishtar Terra, Venus

This 600-kilometer-long, 100-kilometer-wide belt of closely spaced parallel ridges forms a gentle topographic rise located near Laima Tessera on Venus. The ridges are probably formed by compressional thrust faults, folds, or a combination of both. The origin of this compression is not well understood but is probably related to horizontal buckling of the crust. Also, a set of narrow extensional graben (left) formed to the west of the ridge belt. These graben probably formed during crustal extension, possibly in response to stresses associated with formation of the ridge belt. The large circular structure is the 32-kilometer-wide impact crater Geopert-Meyer. This crater exhibits a central peak and several interior terraces below the crater rim and is typical of craters in this size range. Geopert-Meyer formed by the impact of an asteroid that was large enough to penetrate the thick atmosphere of Venus.

Magellan image F-MIDR 60N026.
Location: 58.7 N, 26.5 E
Image Width: 120 kilometers
Vertical Exaggeration: ~6× normal Image Resolution: 210 meters/pixel

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