Maat Mons is a massive shield volcano on the planet Venus and the planet's second-highest mountain and highest volcano. It rises 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) above the mean planetary radius at 0.5°N 194.6°E / 0.5; 194.6, and nearly 5 km above the surrounding plains.[2] It is named after the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice, Ma'at.

Maat Mons

Maat Mons is displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus, with the vertical scale multiplied by 22.5. Based on Magellan probe radar images
Feature type	Mountain
Coordinates	0.5°N 194.6°E / 0.5; 194.6[1]
Diameter	395 km (245 mi)
Peak	4.9 km (3.0 mi) 16,076 ft (4,900 m) 8 km (5.0 mi) 26,247 ft (8,000 m) above mean.
Eponym	Ma'at

Structure

Maat Mons has a large summit caldera, 28×31 km in size. Within the large caldera, there are at least five smaller collapse craters, up to 10 km in diameter.[3]

A chain of small craters 3–5 km in diameter extends some 40 km along the southeast flank of the volcano, but rather than indicating a large fissure eruption, they seem to also be formed by collapse: full resolution imagery from the Magellan probe reveals no evidence of lava flows from these craters.[3]

At least two large scale structural collapse events seem to have occurred in the past on Maat Mons.[3]

Activity

Radar sounding by Magellan probe revealed evidence for comparatively recent volcanic activity at Maat Mons, in the form of ash flows near the summit and on the northern flank.^{[citation needed]}

Intriguingly for planetary geologists, atmospheric studies carried out by the Pioneer Venus probes in the early 1980s revealed a considerable variation in the concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and methane (CH₄) in Venus' middle and upper atmosphere. One possible explanation for this was the injection of volcanic gases into the atmosphere by plinian eruptions at Maat Mons.[4]

More recent studies have suggested that the volcano structure, distribution of lava flows, pit craters, summit morphology, and other small-scale features are indicative of recent volcanic activity on Maat Mons.[5]

Although many lines of evidence suggest that Venus is likely to be volcanically active, present-day eruptions at Maat Mons have not been confirmed.

See also

• List of montes on Venus
• Volcanism on Venus

References

External links

• 3D Perspective View of Maat Mons

На других языках

[ru] Гора Маат