Magellan's Perspective View of Ovda Regio, 15° N, 77° E

This perspective view of Venus, generated by computer from Magellan data and color-coded with emissivity, shows part of the lowlands to the north of Ovda Regio. The prominent topographic feature is a shield volcano, one of many distinct types of volcanic features on Venus. The volcano, with its partially breached summit caldera and central dome, bears a superficial resemblance to Mount St. Helens in this strongly vertically exaggerated view. In reality, it is roughly 700 km across, comparable to Olympus Mons on Mars, although it is only 2 km high. The extremely low, broad shape of the volcano probably results from the eruption of highly fluid lava such as basalt, combined with Venus' high surface temperature. Individual lava flows can be seen on the righthand side of the volcano, which has a slope of less than half a degree. The rugged area at the extreme right is part of a fracture zone that appears to extend under the volcano and may have provided a path by which lava was erupted. The cone-shaped hill in the foreground is an artifact caused by a single erroneous altimeter measurement; its size gives an indication of the horizontal resolution of the altimetry map. Magellan MIDR quadrangle* containing this image: C1-15N077. Image resolution (m): 225. Size of region shown (E-W x N-S, in km): 851 x 878. Range of emissivities from violet to red: 0.74 -- 0.84. Vertical exaggeration: 100. Azimuth of viewpoint (deg clockwise from East): 135. Elevation of viewpoint (km): 300. *Quadrangle name indicates approximate center latitude (N=north, S=south) and center longitude (East).