Abstract Coronae are ring‐shaped volcanic features on the surface of Venus whose origins are not well understood. Coronae are absent from the lowest and highest topographic regions, as well as lows and highs in the Venusian geoid. How coronae form remains debated; one hypothesis suggests that diapirs uplift the crust, creating ring fractures; later, when magma withdraws, the crust relaxes. These proposals do not include a source for corona‐generating diapirs. The spatial distribution of coronae may provide formation mechanism clues and insight into the thermal and tectonic evolution of Venus. We use machine learning clustering algorithms to show that coronae are not randomly distributed on Venus; the spatial locations of coronae are more clustered than are expected when compared with an identical number of randomly generated latitude‐longitude pairs. We propose that plumes from the deep mantle of Venus interact with the transition zone, generating clusters of smaller diapirs that impinge upon the lithosphere to form coronae. Multiple diapirs form from each mantle plume, giving rise to the numerous yet spatially connected coronae. The number of plumes is consistent with previous Venus geodynamic models. Our results provide a complete geophysical process for corona formation and distribution from the deep interior to surface.
Euen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.