User:Awebb6/sandbox/Surface features of Venus
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The surface of Venus is dominated by well-preserved geologic features that include volcanism, large meteorite impacts, and aeolian sedimentation. Venus has a unique surface geology due to its single, strong crustal plate, which creates a unimodal elevation distribution (over 90% of the surface lies withing an elevation of -1.0 and 2.5 km)[1] that preserves geologic structures for long periods of time. Studies of the Venusian surface are based on imaging, radar, and altimetry data collected from several exploratory space probe missions, particularly the Magellan probe since 1961 (see Venus Exploration). Despite its similarities to Earth in size, mass, density, and possibly composition, Venus has a unique geology that is unlike Earth. The surface of Venus is relatively young compared to other terrestrial planets (<500 million years), which could represent a global-scale resurfacing event happened at about that time that buried much of the previous rock record.[2] Venus is believed to have approximately the same bulk element composition as Earth, due to similarities in densities and size, but the exact composition is unknown. The surface conditions on Venus are also more extreme than Earth, with temperatures ranging from 453-473° C and pressures of 95 bar.[3] Venus also contains no water, so the crustal rock is extremely strong and surface features are well preserved. Surface features seen on Venus give evidence to the planetary processes at work, and twenty features have been named thus far. These features include local features, such as craters, coronae, and undae, as well as regional-scale features, such as planitiae, plana, and tesserae.[4]