HEIGHT OF MOUNTAINS ON VENUS AND THE CREEP-PROPERTIES OF ROCK

Analyses are made of the upper limits on the height of mountains and the thickness of possible continental blocks on Venus. Insufficient creep data exist to reach definitive conclusions about these limits. However, if Venusian rocks are no more refractory than quartzite or dunite, as appears likely, then it is possible to conclude that high mountains, continental blocks of appreciable thicknesses, and deep ocean basins can exist over an extended period of time on Venus, at temperatures prevailing there now, only if the cytherean rocks are dry. Plate tectonics cannot exist on Venus if her rocks are wet. The elevation differences that are maintained by active tectonic or volcanic processes are not considered in this paper. © 1979.