Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 7 May 1999:
Vol. 284. no. 5416, p. 889
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5416.889
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

News of the Week

PLANETOLOGY:
Craters Suggest How Venus Lost Her Youth

Richard A. Kerr

Most researchers have believed that volcanic activity on Venus ended abruptly long ago, but a new analysis of Magellan radar images suggests that many venusian craters have in fact been altered by later lava flows, reopening the possibility that Venus was active after the supposed shutdown. In work presented at the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, two planetary geologists used pairs of images of 70 craters to create three-dimensional stereo images, allowing them to measure the relative heights of each crater's rim, floor, and surrounding terrain; the 3D perspective showed lava not only filling crater interiors but also flooding around seemingly pristine craters.

Read the Full Text

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)