Venus: small volcanic cone and wind streak 4.9
90 km wide Magellan image showing a small volcanic cone with a wind streak extending away from it towards the northeast (9°South, 247°East). Note also the volcanic crater at the summit of the cone, best seen in the enlargement at the top left.
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Image Credit: NASA  

Wind streaks on the surface appear to correspnd with the prevailing winf direction and extend downwind from topographic features. The image above shows an example of a wind streak extending from an isolated volcano. This is most likey to be radar-bright (rough) material exposed by the stripping away of a regional dust cover by turbulent vortices imposed in anotherwised gently wind by the obstructing volcano.  
text credit: David A Rothery Return to top of page