Astronomy
The Lithosphere and Tectonic Activity on Venus
Quick fact
Venus's lithosphere is so thick and rigid that it does not break into moving plates despite intense internal heat; instead, its surface is dominated by vast volcanic plains and bizarre, deformed terrain, with ancient impact craters preserved as if the surface was resurfaced globally about 300–500 million years ago.
Why this is interesting
You've seen Earth's jigsaw-puzzle continents drift and collide, but what if a planet's outer shell were frozen into a single, unbreakable whole? That's the tectonic reality of Venus, our scorching neighbor.