Geomorphology and volcanology of Maat Mons, Venus

Full-resolution (FMIDR) Magellan radar backscatter images have been used to characterize the geology and volcanology of the volcano Maat Mons on Venus. This volcano has often been identified by remote sensing techniques as one of the volcanoes on the planet that could have been recently active, and is the highest volcano on Venus with a relief of ∼9 km. The summit of Maat Mons is characterized by a caldera complex ∼26 × 30 km in diameter with at least six remnant pit craters ∼10 km in diameter preserved in the walls of the caldera, suggesting that multiple small volume (<16 km3) collapse events formed the caldera. Four lava flow types, described as “digitate flows”, “sheet flows”, “fan flows” and “filamentary flows”, can be identified on the flanks. Three rift zones can be identified from the distribution of 217 pit craters >1 km in diameter on the flanks. These pits appear to have formed by collapse with no effusive activity associated with their formation. No evidence for explosive volcanism can be identified, despite the (relatively) low atmospheric pressure (∼55 bar) near the summit. There is also a lack of evidence for lava channels, deformation features within the caldera, and thrust faults on the flanks, indicating that the physical volcanology of Maat Mons is simpler than that of typical martian and terrestrial shield volcanoes. Preservation of fine-scale (3-4 pixels) structures within the pit craters and summit pits is consistent with geologically very recent activity, but no evidence for current activity can be identified.