Maxwell Montes


Maxwell Montes

(mon -teez) The highest mountain range on Venus, located on Ishtar Terra. It is centered on Venusian coordinates 65.2° N latitude, 356.7° W longitude. It rises to more than 11 km above the mean elevation of the surface, with complex folds and faults formed by extensive compression of the planet's crust. At high elevations, where the temperature and atmospheric pressure fall to a certain level, the rocks are coated with a metallic material similar to pyrite. Its western slopes are very steep, whereas its eastern slopes descend gradually into Fortuna Tessera.