What tectonic regime operates on Venus, and was it resurfaced catastrophically?
In plain words
Venus has few craters, spread almost randomly, so its whole surface is only a few hundred million years old. Whether it was repaved all at once or gradually, and how active it is now, is unknown.
Precise statement
The roughly 1000 nearly randomly distributed impact craters imply a mean surface age of about 0.3 to 1 Gyr. Classify the resurfacing history (catastrophic global event, equilibrium resurfacing, episodic lid overturn, plume-induced subduction at coronae) and measure present volcanic and tectonic activity rates. An answer is a resurfacing model consistent with crater statistics and with measured present-day deformation and eruption rates.
What would settle it
High-resolution radar imaging and repeat-pass interferometry from upcoming Venus orbiters measuring active deformation and eruption.
Status in the literature
A 2023 reanalysis of Magellan radar images (Herrick and Hensley, Science 2023, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm7735) reported a changing volcanic vent, implying present activity.
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