@misc{Crouch:2026:10.5194/epsc2026-1082,
author = {Crouch, E and Ghail, R and Mason, P},
doi = {10.5194/epsc2026-1082},
title = {Terrestrial Analogues for Polygonal Terrain on Venus},
type = {Other},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/epsc2026-1082},
year = {2026}
}

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TY  - GEN
AB  - <jats:p>Polygons of various sizes cover more than 5% of the surface of Venus, almost as much of the surface as that covered by tesserae, and yet they have been largely ignored. The most recent study [1] identified 204 polygonal terrain locations covering approximately 8 Mm², using an automated algorithm that resulted in a northern hemisphere bias. Nonetheless, they found that 65% of the identified polygonal terrain is associated with small volcanoes, 25% with coronae, 18% with tesserae, and 20% with wrinkle ridges. Polygonal terrain is currently attributed to thermal contraction by cooling, whether of lava flows, or following heating by an intrusion [2], or in response to climate change [3].Our mapping of an additional 16 Mm² (Figure 1) reveals 6 types of polygonal terrain (plus unclassified), broadly divided into irregular (55% by area) and rectilinear patterns (37% by area). There appear to be two distinct size ranges of smaller cells close to the resolution limit (~100 m) and larger cells several km across, sometimes superposed. A thermal contraction origin by cooling is difficult to reconcile with the variety, shapes and sizes of polygons observed.A range of processes in addition to thermal contraction can generate polygonal patterns at varying scales on Earth and Mars including lava lakes, columnar joints, karst, diagenesis, ice wedge polygons (periglaciation), desiccation (mud cracks), evaporation (salt pans), and polygonal fault systems (PFS). The first four generate polygons on the metre scale, smaller than can be resolved in Magellan imagery. The next three can generate polygons from metres up to a few hundred metres across and may therefore have generated the smaller polygons observed on Venus. PFS have so far only been identified in some terrestrial sedimentary basins [4], but they do generate polygons up to several kilometres across, similar to the larger polygons observed on Venus.PFS form networks of smalldisplacement no
AU  - Crouch,E
AU  - Ghail,R
AU  - Mason,P
DO  - 10.5194/epsc2026-1082
PY  - 2026///
TI  - Terrestrial Analogues for Polygonal Terrain on Venus
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/epsc2026-1082
UR  - https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2026-1082
ER  - 

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