Maat Mons
The Maat Mons is the highest volcano of the planet Venus. It is located at 0.5 ° N and 194.6 ° E LängeVenus0.5 - 165.4Koordinaten: 0 ° 30 'N, 165 ° 24 ' W and rises eight kilometers over the central planet radius. It was named after the Egyptian goddess Maat.
Structure
The Maat Mons has a large caldera with an area of 28 km by 31 km. Nearby you at least five small collapsed crater with a diameter of up to 10 km. A chain of small craters with diameters of 3-5 km stretches over a length of 40 km along the south-western side of the volcano. However, they show no signs of a volcanic eruption, but seem to have been also formed by collapses. High resolution pictures of the Magellan probe indicate no lava flow.
Activity
Radar studies of the Magellan probe revealed a relatively frequent volcanic activity of Maat Mons, in the form of ash flows at the summit and on the northern side.
Planetary geologists presented in studies in the early 1980s by the Pioneer Venus probes considerable variations in sulfur dioxide and methane concentration within the middle and upper atmosphere of Venus determined. One possible explanation would be the ejection of volcanic gases into the atmosphere by Plinian eruptions of Maat Mons.