Albedo-Color Diagram of the Venusian Surface and its Interpretation

A method and results of statistical treatment of TV images of the Venus surface obtained by Venera-13 spaceprobe are described. A comparison of the constructed correlation albedo-color diagram and the theoretical one permits to conclude that the color index in terms of absorption (0,53/0,62 μm) is higher by ≡40% for the soil than for the rock. Possible reasons of revealed differences are discussed. Both, small excess of red color and low albedo of the venusian surface could be explained by the presence of mafic Fe³⁺-bearing minerals such as aegirin, epidote, magnetite, sphene and not necessary of hematite as usually proposed.