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Amphitheater-Headed Valley (Venus)

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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms

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Definition

Amphitheater-headed elongate depressions (valleys and/or channels) cut into topography on Venus.

Synonyms

Sapping valley; Valley network

Note

They are commonly referred to as “sapping valleys” (e.g., Komatsu et al. 1992, 2001) from morphological resemblance to valleys produced by sapping (e.g., Baker et al. 1990).

Subtypes

  1. (1)

    Valley networks on Venus formed initially from fracture systems and became enlarged by inferred low-viscosity lava sapping processes (Komatsu et al. 2001; Oshigami et al. 2009) (Lava Channel) (Fig. 1).

  2. (2)

    Subsidiary channels associated with chaotic terrain at the source of outflow channels. Example: 5–10 km long valleys or channels at 40°S, 202°E (Kargel et al. 1994).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Portion of a labyrinthic valley network on Venus, at 8°S, 87°E. Magellan right-look radar image (NASA/JPL)

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References

  • Baker VR, Kochel RC, Laity JE, Howard AD (1990) Spring sapping and valley network development. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 525:235–266

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  • Baker VR, Komatsu G, Parker TJ, Gulick VC, Kargel JS, Lewis JS (1992) Channels and valleys on Venus: preliminary analysis of Magellan data. J Geophys Res 97(E8):13,421–13,444

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  • Kargel JS, Kirk RL, Fegly B Jr, Treiman AH (1994) Carbonate-sulfate volcanism on Venus? Icarus 112:219–252

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  • Komatsu G, Gulick VC, Baker VR (2001) Valley networks on Venus. Geomorphology 37(3–4):225–240

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  • Komatsu G, Gluick VC, Kargel JS, Baker VR (1992) Venus lava sapping valleys. LPSC XXIII, pp 719–720

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  • Oshigami S, Namiki N, Komatsu G (2009) Depth and longitudinal profiles of Venusian sinuous rilles and valley networks. Icarus 199:250–263. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.10.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Research School of Planetary Sciences, Università d’Annunzio, Viale Pindaro 42, 65127, Pescara, Italy

    Goro Komatsu

  2. Planetary Science Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Henrik Hargitai

Authors
  1. Goro Komatsu
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  2. Henrik Hargitai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Goro Komatsu .

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Komatsu, G., Hargitai, H. (2014). Amphitheater-Headed Valley (Venus). In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_332-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_332-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

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