Searching for ancient Venus

Abstract

The cratering record on Venus provides one of the few available remote chronometers for establishing relative age. Because the dense atmosphere shields the surface from smaller impactors, the most statistically significant fraction of the cratering record is incomplete at best and indeterminate at worst. Larger craters represent survivors of entry but occur too infrequently for delineating statistically significant ages on a local scale. This contribution reconsiders processes affecting the statistical cratering record and argues that the globally averaged age approaches 2-3 billion years with isolated relict surfaces dating back to 3-4 billion years.