Editing Venus (section)

==== Craters ====
[[File:PIA00103 Venus - 3-D Perspective View of Lavinia Planitia.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|alt=The plains of Venus|[[Impact crater]]s on the surface of Venus (false-colour, [[3D projection]] image reconstructed from radar data)]]

There are almost a thousand impact craters on Venus, evenly distributed across its surface. On other cratered bodies, such as Earth and the Moon, craters show a range of states of degradation. On the Moon, degradation is caused by subsequent impacts, whereas on Earth it is caused by wind and rain erosion. On Venus, about 85% of the craters are in pristine condition. The number of craters, together with their well-preserved condition, indicates the planet underwent a global resurfacing event 300–600{{spaces}}million years ago,<ref name="Nimmo98" /><ref name="Strom1994"/> followed by a decay in volcanism.<ref name=Romeo_Turcotte_2018/> Whereas Earth's crust is in continuous motion, Venus is thought to be unable to sustain such a process. Without plate tectonics to dissipate heat from its mantle, Venus instead undergoes a cyclical process in which mantle temperatures rise until they reach a critical level that weakens the crust. Then, over a period of about 100{{spaces}}million years, subduction occurs on an enormous scale, completely recycling the crust.<ref name="Frankel" />

Venusian craters range from {{convert|3|to|280|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} in diameter. No craters are smaller than 3{{spaces}}km, because of the effects of the dense atmosphere on incoming objects. Objects with less than a certain [[kinetic energy]] are slowed so much by the atmosphere that they do not create an impact crater.<ref name=Herrick_Phillips_1993/> Incoming projectiles less than {{convert|50|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} in diameter will fragment and burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground.<ref name=Morrison_Owens_2003/>