Likely active volcanoes found on Venus, defying theory of dormant planet
Researchers identify 37 ring-like structures known as coronae that are believed to be living volcanoes
Agence France-Presse
Published on Mon 20 Jul 2020 19.34 EDT
Two coronae on the surface of Venus which are formed when hot material from deep inside the planet rises through the mantle. The black line shows a gap in the imaging data. Photograph: Laurent Montesi/Reuters
Agence France-Presse
Published onMon 20 Jul 2020 19.34 EDT
Scientists have identified 37 volcanic structures on Venus that appear to have been recently active – and probably still are today – painting the picture of a geologically dynamic planet and not a dormant world as long thought.
The research focused on ring-like structures called coronae, caused by an upwelling of hot rock from deep within the planet’s interior, and provided compelling evidence of widespread recent tectonic and magma activity on Venus’s surface, researchers have said.
Many scientists had long thought that Venus, lacking the plate tectonics that gradually reshape Earth’s surface, was essentially dormant geologically, having been so for the past half billion years.
“Our work shows that some of that interior heat is still able to reach the surface even today. Venus is clearly not so geologically dead or dormant as previously thought,” said Anna Gülcher, an Earth and planetary scientist of the Institute of Geophysics in Zurich, and lead author of the research published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jul/21/likely-active-volcanoes-found-on-venus-defying-theory-of-dormant-planet
