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Science 12 December 1986:
Vol. 234. no. 4782, pp. 1379 - 1383
DOI: 10.1126/science.234.4782.1379
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Articles

Reports

The Color of the Surface of Venus

C. M. PIETERS 1, J. W. HEAD 1, S. PRATT 1, W. PATTERSON 2, J. GARVIN 3, V. L. BARSUKOV 4, A. T. BASILEVSKY 4, I. L. KHODAKOVSKY 4, A. S. SELIVANOV 5, A. S. PANFILOV 5, YU. M. GEKTIN 5, and Y. M. NARAYEVA 5

1 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912.
2 Department of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912.
3 Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, MD 20771.
4 Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, Moscow, U.S.S.R.
5 State Center for the Study of Natural Resources, State Meteorological Committee, 123376 Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Multispectral images of the basaltic surface of Venus obtained by Venera 13 were processed to remove the effects of orange-colored incident radiation resulting from interactions with the thick Venusian atmosphere. At visible wavelengths the surface of Venus appears dark and without significant color. High-temperature laboratory reflectance spectra of basaltic materials indicate that these results are consistent with mineral assemblages bearing either ferric or ferrous iron. A high reflectance in the near-infrared region observed at neighboring Venera 9 and 10 sites, however, suggests that the basaltic surface material contains ferric minerals and thus may be relatively oxidized.

Submitted on July 7, 1986
Accepted on October 10, 1986


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
An Overview of Venus Geology.
R. S. Saunders, R. S. SAUNDERS, R. E. ARVIDSON, J. W. HEAD III, G. G. SCHABER, E. R. STOFAN, and S. C. SOLOMON (1991)
Science 252, 249-252
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