The vocabulary of planetary surfaces

Every kind of place there is

The IAU does not call a mountain a mountain. It classifies every named surface feature in the Solar System with one of 53 Latin descriptor terms — a mons is a mountain, a patera an irregular volcanic crater, a chasma a deep canyon. Those 53 terms sort the 8,079 named places on 14 mapped worlds. Each one has its own page, with the full census and the largest examples anywhere.

Cratersa circular depression, almost always an impact scar13 worlds4,787 Coronaean oval feature raised by rising material beneath the crust1 world341 Montesa mountain7 worlds284 Pateraean irregular or scalloped-edged crater, usually volcanic5 worlds280 Vallesa valley5 worlds249 Dorsaa ridge8 worlds184 Albedo featuresa region named for how bright or dark it appears from a distance4 worlds172 Fossaea long, narrow depression9 worlds117 Lacusa small dark plain2 worlds114 Rupesa scarp or cliff7 worlds113 Rimaea fissure — a collapsed lava channel or a crack in the crust1 world112 Tholia small domical mountain or hill5 worlds109 Chasmataa deep, steep-sided canyon2 worlds88 Planitiaea low plain9 worlds83 Fluctusa flow of erupted material4 worlds81 Astronaut-named featuressmall craters near the Apollo landing sites, named for the crews1 world81 Lineaea long, dark or bright marking2 worlds71 Sulcia set of parallel grooves and ridges4 worlds70 Tesseraeterrain deformed into a tile-like pattern of ridges and grooves1 world65 Faculaea bright spot5 worlds61 Catenaea chain of craters7 worlds59 Regionesa large area distinguished by its brightness or colour7 worlds51 Mensaea flat-topped elevation with cliff-like edges3 worlds50 Planaa high plain or plateau5 worlds49 Collesa small hill or knob3 worlds44 Sinusa bay-shaped dark plain2 worlds40 Chaosterrain broken into a jumble of blocks and hollows2 worlds39 Labyrinthia complex of intersecting valleys or ridges4 worlds33 Cavia hollow or irregular steep-sided depression2 worlds30 Mariaa large dark plain — an ancient lava flood, not a sea2 worlds25 Terraean extensive landmass4 worlds20 Undaea dune field3 worlds14 Eruptive centersthe active source of an eruption1 world14 Scopulian irregular scarp1 world13 Maculaea dark spot3 worlds13 Lacunaean irregular depression, read as the bed of a lake that has dried1 world13 Insulaean island1 world13 Fluminaa channel that carries, or once carried, a liquid1 world11 Labesa landslide2 worlds10 Large ringed featuresa multi-ring impact basin, the largest class of impact structure there is3 worlds10 Farraa pancake-like structure, or a row of them1 world9 Paludesa small dark plain2 worlds9 Promontoriaa cape, where a highland juts into a plain1 world9 Virgaea coloured streak1 world8 Stationesa landing site — the only class named after a human arrival1 world6 Lingulaea tongue-shaped extension of a plateau1 world5 Serpentesa sinuous feature with segments of alternating rise and fall1 world5 Flexusa low curved ridge with a scalloped pattern1 world5 Fretaa strait — a narrow channel connecting two larger bodies of liquid1 world4 Saxaa boulder or rock1 world3 Oceanithe largest of the dark lava plains1 world1 Vastitatesan extensive plain — the term is used for exactly one feature1 world1 Arcusan arc-shaped feature1 world1

Source

IAU / USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature — descriptor terms, public domain