Coronae on Venus range from 60 to over 2000 km across and are characterized by a complex range of morphologies. The annuli around coronae range from about 10 to 150 km across and have tectonic features ranging from extensional to compressional to a combination of both. Topographically, coronae are domes, plateaus, plateaus with interior lows, and rimmed depressions. A subset of features classified here as coronae corresponds to depressions and is interpreted to consist of large‐scale calderas. A number of features have been identified with many of the basic characteristics of coronae (similar interior deformation, associations with volcanism, high topography) but lacking a distinct tectonic annulus. These features tend to be somewhat smaller than coronae and may represent “failed” coronae or coronae in an early stage of evolution. The size distribution of coronae and coronalike features with maximum widths greater than about 250 km is well represented by a power law of the form N(D) = kD−α, where N is the number of coronae with maximum widths greater than D (km) and α = 3.05. The spatial distribution of coronae is not random; the features are concentrated in a few groups and along several chains. Coronae are similar in many morphologic characteristics to major volcanic shield structures and volcanic rises such as Western Eistla Regio. The largest corona, Artemis, is actually larger than several volcanic rises on Venus. Coronae and volcanic rises appear to be surface manifestations of mantle plumes. There is no evidence of any systematic variation in age along chains of coronae as occurs in hotspot chains on Earth. Instead, a number of multiple and overlapping coronae may indicate limited movement of the surface above a hotspot or mantle plume. The morphology and size distribution of coronae, highlands, and major shields suggest that mantle upwelling on Venus operates either on several spatial scales, with coronae representing smaller‐scale upflows and major volcanic rises representing larger convective upwellings, or on several temporal scales, with coronae representing shorter duration upflows and major volcanic rises representing long‐term upwellings.

The nearly global radar imaging and altimetry measurements of the surface of Venus obtained by the Magellan spacecraft have revealed that deformational features of a wide variety of styles and spatial scales are nearly ubiquitous on the planet. Many areas of Venus record a superposition of different episodes of deformation and volcanism. This deformation is manifested both in areally distributed strain of modest magnitude, such as families of graben and wrinkle ridges at a few to a few tens of kilometers spacing in many plains regions, as well as in zones of concentrated lithospheric extension and shortening. The common coherence of strain patterns over hundreds of kilometers implies that even many local features reflect a crustal response to mantle dynamic processes. Ridge belts and mountain belts, which have characteristic widths and spacings of hundreds of kilometers, represent successive degrees of lithospheric shortening and crustal thickening. The mountain belts of Venus, as on Earth, show widespread evidence for lateral extension both during and following active crustal compression. Venus displays two principal geometrical variations on lithospheric extension: the quasi‐circular coronae (75–2600 km diameter) and broad rises with linear rift zones having dimensions of hundreds to thousands of kilometers. Both are sites of significant volcanic flux, but horizontal displacements may be limited to only a few tens of kilometers. Few large‐offset strike slip faults have been observed, but limited local horizontal shear is accommodated across many zones of crustal stretching or shortening. Several large‐scale tectonic features have extremely steep topographic slopes (in excess of 20°–30°) over a 10‐km horizontal scale; because of the tendency for such slopes to relax by ductile flow in the middle to lower crust, such regions are likely to be tectonically active. In general, the preserved record of global tectonics of Venus does not resemble oceanic plate tectonics on Earth, wherein large, rigid plates are separated by narrow zones of deformation along plate boundaries. Rather tectonic strain on Venus typically involves deformation distributed across broad zones tens to a few hundred kilometers wide separated by comparatively undeformed blocks having dimensions of hundreds of kilometers. These characteristics are shared with actively deforming continental regions on Earth. The styles and scales of tectonic deformation on Venus may be consequences of three differences from the Earth: (1) The absence of a hydrological cycle and significant erosion dictates that multiple episodes of deformation are typically well‐preserved. (2) A high surface temperature and thus a significantly shallower onset of ductile behavior in the middle to lower crust gives rise to a rich spectrum of smaller‐scale deformational features. (3) A strong coupling of mantle convection to the upper mantle portion of the lithosphere, probably because Venus lacks a mantle low‐viscosity zone, leads to crustal stress fields that are coherent over large...

Magellan radar images and altimetry data and Pioneer Venus gravity data of major highlands and lowlands on Venus are examined with the objective of relating these tectonic and volcanic landforms to convection within Venus' mantle. Two roughly circular lowlands, Atalanta and Lavinia planitiae, are bowl‐shaped depressions which contain compressional tectonic features and lack hotspot‐related features such as coronae and shield volcanoes. They are identified as surface expressions of young mantle coldspots or regions of mantle downwelling. Highlands can be divided into two distinct groups: volcanic rises and plateau‐shaped highlands. Volcanic rises are domical, circular to elongate regions characterized by volcanic construction; extensional tectonism; large, positive gravity and geoid anomalies centered on the highlands; and large apparent depths of compensation. Volcanic rises include Beta, Bell, Atla, and Western Eistla regiones and are identified as surface expressions of large mantle hotspots or plumes. Plateau‐shaped highlands are steep‐sided elevated regions that range from circular (Alpha Regio) to elongate or irregular (Ovda Regio, Tellus Regio) in shape. Their surfaces are dominated by complex ridged terrain, rather than the shield volcanoes and flows that dominate volcanic rises. Most plateau‐shaped highlands contain compressional structures, some of which commonly lie along their margins, and have small gravity and geoid anomalies and small apparent depths of compensation compared to volcanic rises. Plateau‐shaped highlands, which include those mentioned above and Western Ishtar Terra, Thetis Regio, and Phoebe Regio, are identified as surface expressions of mantle coldspots or regions of downwelling. The highland coldspot features are elevated as a consequence of crustal thickening; crustal thickening is absent or minor at lowland coldspots. The importance of mantle downwelling in the tectonic deformation of Venus suggests that its mantle, like the mantle of Earth, is strongly heated from within. The major Venusian hotspots attest to the existence of large mantle plumes carrying heat upward from the planet's core.

Coronae on Venus are large, circular to ovoidal surface features that have distinctive tectonic, volcanic, and topographic expressions. They range in diameter from less than 200 km to at least 1000 km. New data from the Magellan spacecraft have shown coronae to be among the dominant tectonic forms on the planet and have revealed their morphology in unprecedented detail. Typical coronae are dominated by concentric tectonic features and have a raised rim, a central region higher than the surounding plains but in many instances lower than the rim, and, commonly, a peripheral depression or “moat”. Some coronae also show significant amounts of radial tectonic structure, and in most cases this predates the concentric features. In addition, there are other features on Venus, recognized for the first time in Magellan data, that consist of domical rises with intense radial tectonic patterns and little or no concentric structure. All of these features commonly are associated with moderate to large quantities of volcanism. In fact, some radially fractured domes have undergone so much volcanism that volcanic construction appears to have played a significant role in establishing their topography. We explore a model of corona formation that links these forms into a genetic sequence. The model begins with the ascent of a mantle diapir. Upward mantle flow driven by its ascent forces the lithosphere above the diapir upward, producing a gentle dome with a radiating pattern of extensional fractures. As the diapir impinges on the underside of the lithosphere it flattens and spreads, transforming the uplift to a more flat‐topped shape. In this flattened, near‐surface configuration the diapir can cool rapidly. With the resultant loss of buoyancy the raised plateau can relax to form a central sag, a raised rim, and a depressed moat. Concentric tectonic features develop primarily during the latter stages of corona formation and hence are best preserved on mature coronae. Volcanism takes place during all phases of the uplift and may diminish as the relaxation occurs. Our analyses to date suggest that this scenario is broadly consistent with many of the coronae on Venus. However, there is enormous diversity in corona morphology, and features are present that require substantial deviations from this simple model. In particular, some circular depressions appear corona like in synthetic aperature radar images but may in fact be large calderas. Some of the variations observed in corona morphology may ultimately be interpretable in terms of variations in the behavior of individual diapirs and in the local properties of the Venusian lithosphere.

Coronae are large circular features on Venus characterized by an annulus of concentric tectonic features, interior fracturing, volcanism, and generally upraised topography. They are suggested to form over sites of mantle upwelling and modified by subsequent gravitational relaxation. We examine this proposition using two geophysical models to determine whether and under what conditions these mechanisms can produce the topography and tectonics exhibited by coronae in the Magellan altimetry data and radar images. Our results show that mantle diapirism can produce the domical topography of novae, which may be coronae in the earliest stage of formation. The model stresses induced at the surface by a mantle diapir imply the formation of radially oriented extensional fracturing as observed in novae. The dimensions of novae indicate that the diapirs responsible for them are smaller than about 100 km in radius and that the elastic lithosphere is less than 32 km thick. Diapirs that have reached the top of the mantle are expected to spread and flatten, producing plateaulike rather than domical topography. We model a flattened diapir at the top of the mantle and show that it will result in plateaulike uplift. The volume of the flattened model diapir is similar to that of the spherical diapirs derived for novae. We model gravitational relaxation of isostatically uncompensated plateaus and show that they relax to the topographic forms associated with coronae and that the model stresses are consistent with the development of the annulus of tectonic features around coronae.