Photogeologic Mapping of Small to Mid-Sized Venusian Volcanoes and Analysis of Their Implications for the Mechanical Properties of the Near Surface

The thermal lithosphere, the upper convective boundary layer of a planet, of Venus and its evolution through time are poorly understood, with a variety of hypotheses available to explain the current observations. A better understanding of the Venusian lithosphere will help to explain the divergence between the Earth and Venus, two planets that are incredibly similar in many respects. I will evaluate the relationship of key geologic features on Venus to lithospheric conditions at the time of their formation to constrain global geodynamic scenarios for the evolution of the lithosphere with time. I will focus on small to mid-sized volcanic constructs as they are minimally studied features whose current topography in places appears incongruent with contemporaneous flow emplacement (e.g., volcanic flows appearing to go uphill); thus lithospheric conditions have likely changed with time. I will use Magellan stereo-derived topography, which can be processed to a horizontal resolution of 1-2 km and vertical resolution of 50-80 m , imagery, previously published geologic maps of Venus, and gravity data to study these features.