![]() ![]() Thus the edifice of Beta Regio rises nearly 10 km above the mean venusian datum. There are many larger volcanic structures on Venus. ![]() The presence of over a million small shield volcanoes that closely resemble terrestrial oceanic floor seamounts, reinforces the basaltic nature of venusian volcan-ism. This has led to the comment that on Venus, lavas flow like water, while on the outer icy planets, water ice behaves like terrestrial lavas. The only effective eroding agent that could form such a uniform lengthy channel would appear to have been low-viscosity lava, possibly carbonate-rich. But it is only about 1 km wide and 20 m deep and was cut into a surface where the temperature is around 460 ☌. The longest is Baltis Vallis that extends for a distance of 6800 km, longer than the Nile (6695 km). Some channels are compound and some deltas are present. No boulders are apparent and they are very smooth down to centimeter scales. They do not resemble lunar rilles, but meander in a form resembling that of terrestrial rivers. They do not possess tributaries and appear to be only 1 or 2 km wide. Thus there are at least 200 unique channels on the plains of Venus. One of the great lessons of comparative planetology is that caution is needed in applying terrestrial analogues when studying other planets. ![]()
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