page_title: Surface features of Venus
section_title: Aeolian structures
hierarchical_section_title: Surface features of Venus / Aeolian structures
caption_attribution_description: English: Yardang at the Lea-Yoakum Dunes near Meadow, Texas. USDA photo
context_page_description: The surface of Venus is dominated by geologic features that include volcanoes, large impact craters, and aeolian erosion and sedimentation landforms. Venus has a topography reflecting its single, strong crustal plate, with a unimodal elevation distribution that preserves geologic structures for long periods of time. Studies of the Venusian surface are based on imaging, radar, and altimetry data collected from several exploratory space probes, particularly Magellan, since 1961. Despite its similarities to Earth in size, mass, density, and possibly composition, Venus has a unique geology that is unlike Earth's. Although much older than Earth's, the surface of Venus is relatively young compared to other terrestrial planets, possibly due to a global-scale resurfacing event that buried much of the previous rock record. Venus is believed to have approximately the same bulk elemental composition as Earth, due to the physical similarities, but the exact composition is unknown. The surface conditions on Venus are more extreme than on Earth, with temperatures ranging from 453 to 473 °C and pressures of 95 bar.
context_section_description: Recent Magellan images show over 6000 aeolian landforms, including dunes (or undae), wind streaks, and yardangs. Undae and yardangs have direct analogues on Earth and the process that creates them here can be applied to those seen on Venus. Large dune fields have been identified on the surface and the dunes range in size from meters to hundreds of meters. Similarly, yardang fields may exist in locations such as Mead crater. Wind streaks are parallel linear streaks that form as prevailing winds erode the surface geology. These features illustrate the erosive effect the atmosphere has on the surface of Venus.
caption: An example of a yardang near Meadow, Texas (USDA photo)
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