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Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms pp 1–5Cite as

Arachnoid

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Definition

Spider-like volcano-tectonic structure on Venus with inner concentric and outer radial lineament (fracture and ridge) systems (Head et al. 1992).

Description

Arachnoids show a corona-like appearance of concentric or circular shape and also exhibit a radial pattern of ~100 km-long, <10 km-wide fractures that extend outward to several radii of arachnoids (Aittola and Kostama 2000). These linear features often follow the regional lineament and tectonic pattern (Krassilnikov 2002). Where arachnoids are located close to each other, the associated lineaments often form a chaotic and interconnected weblike texture (Head et al. 1992).

Some arachnoids show central depression at their interior (some display interior domes) and may show interior lava flows or small shield volcanoes. They resemble “coronae,” but despite the general similarity of the central structures, arachnoids do show differences from coronae. Arachnoids are dominated by a radial pattern instead of a circular...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Konkoly Thege Miklos Astronomical Institute, Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ákos Kereszturi

  2. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Veli-Petri Kostama

Authors
  1. Ákos Kereszturi
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  2. Veli-Petri Kostama
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Correspondence to Ákos Kereszturi .

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Kereszturi, Á., Kostama, VP. (2014). Arachnoid. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_4-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_4-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9213-9

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