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Volcanism on Venus
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Volcanism on Venus
The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic features and has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. There are more than 1,000 volcanic structures and possible periodic resurfacing of Venus by floods of lava. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Venus has an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, with a pressure that is 90 times that of Earth's atmosphere.
There are over 80,000 volcanoes on Venus detected through radar mapping. For many years scientists debated on whether Venus was currently active or if the volcanic structures were remnants from the past. There are few impact craters on Venus's surface which pointed to relatively recent resurfacing. The most likely resurfacing event would have been volcanic flows. Radar sounding by the Magellan probe revealed evidence for comparatively recent volcanic activity at Venus's highest volcano Maat Mons, in the form of ash flows near the summit and on the northern flank. Although many lines of evidence such as this suggest that volcanoes on Venus have been recently active, present-day eruptions at Maat Mons have not been confirmed. Nevertheless, other more recent studies, in 2020, suggest that Venus, though not Maat Mons specifically, is indeed currently volcanically active. In 2023, scientists reexamined topographical images of the Maat Mons region taken by the Magellan orbiter. Using computer simulations they determined that the topography had changed during an 8-month interval, and have concluded that active volcanism was the cause. Until 2023, there had only been hints of active volcanism. In March 2023, Herrick et al. announced that they had imaged a vent expanding in Magellan images, indicating active volcanism on Venus.
Venus has shield volcanoes, widespread lava flows and some unusual volcanoes called pancake domes and "tick-like" structures which are not present on Earth. Pancake dome volcanoes are up to 15 km (9.3 mi) in diameter and less than 1 km (0.62 mi) in height and are 100 times larger than lava domes formed on Earth. They are usually associated with coronae and tesserae (large regions of highly deformed terrain, folded and fractured in two or three dimensions, which are unique to Venus). The pancakes are thought to be formed by highly viscous, silica-rich lava erupting under Venus's high atmospheric pressure.
The "tick-like" structures are called scalloped margin domes. They are commonly called ticks because they appear as domes with numerous legs. They are thought to have undergone mass wasting events such as landslides on their margins. Sometimes deposits of debris can be seen scattered around them.
On Earth, volcanoes are mainly of two types: shield volcanoes and composite or stratovolcanoes. The shield volcanoes, for example those in Hawaii, eject magma from the depths of the Earth in zones called hot spots. The lava from these volcanoes is relatively fluid and permits the escape of gases. Composite volcanoes, such as Mount St. Helens and Mount Pinatubo, are associated with tectonic plates. In this type of volcano, the oceanic crust of one plate is sliding underneath the other in a subduction zone, together with an inflow of seawater, producing a gummier lava that restricts the exit of the gases, and for that reason, composite volcanoes tend to erupt more violently.
On Venus, where there are no tectonic plates or seawater, volcanoes are mostly of the shield type.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the morphology of volcanoes on Venus is different: on Earth, shield volcanoes can be a few tens of kilometres wide and up to 10 km (6.2 mi) high in the case of Mauna Kea, measured from the sea floor. On Venus, these volcanoes can cover hundreds of kilometres in area, but they are relatively flat, with an average height of 1.5 km (0.93 mi). Large volcanoes cause the Venusian lithosphere to flex downward because of their enormous vertical loads, producing flexural moats or ring fractures around the edifices. Large volcano edifice loading also causes magma chambers to fracture in a sill-like pattern, affecting magma propagation beneath the surface.
Other unique features of Venus's surface are novae (radial networks of dikes or grabens) and arachnoids. A nova is formed when large quantities of magma are extruded onto the surface to form radiating ridges and trenches which are highly reflective to radar. These dikes form a symmetrical network around the central point where the lava emerged, where there may also be a depression caused by the collapse of the magma chamber.
Arachnoids are so named because they resemble a spider's web, featuring several concentric ovals surrounded by a complex network of radial fractures similar to those of a nova. It is not known whether the 250 or so features identified as arachnoids actually share a common origin, or are the result of different geological processes.
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Volcanism on Venus
The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic features and has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. There are more than 1,000 volcanic structures and possible periodic resurfacing of Venus by floods of lava. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Venus has an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, with a pressure that is 90 times that of Earth's atmosphere.
There are over 80,000 volcanoes on Venus detected through radar mapping. For many years scientists debated on whether Venus was currently active or if the volcanic structures were remnants from the past. There are few impact craters on Venus's surface which pointed to relatively recent resurfacing. The most likely resurfacing event would have been volcanic flows. Radar sounding by the Magellan probe revealed evidence for comparatively recent volcanic activity at Venus's highest volcano Maat Mons, in the form of ash flows near the summit and on the northern flank. Although many lines of evidence such as this suggest that volcanoes on Venus have been recently active, present-day eruptions at Maat Mons have not been confirmed. Nevertheless, other more recent studies, in 2020, suggest that Venus, though not Maat Mons specifically, is indeed currently volcanically active. In 2023, scientists reexamined topographical images of the Maat Mons region taken by the Magellan orbiter. Using computer simulations they determined that the topography had changed during an 8-month interval, and have concluded that active volcanism was the cause. Until 2023, there had only been hints of active volcanism. In March 2023, Herrick et al. announced that they had imaged a vent expanding in Magellan images, indicating active volcanism on Venus.
Venus has shield volcanoes, widespread lava flows and some unusual volcanoes called pancake domes and "tick-like" structures which are not present on Earth. Pancake dome volcanoes are up to 15 km (9.3 mi) in diameter and less than 1 km (0.62 mi) in height and are 100 times larger than lava domes formed on Earth. They are usually associated with coronae and tesserae (large regions of highly deformed terrain, folded and fractured in two or three dimensions, which are unique to Venus). The pancakes are thought to be formed by highly viscous, silica-rich lava erupting under Venus's high atmospheric pressure.
The "tick-like" structures are called scalloped margin domes. They are commonly called ticks because they appear as domes with numerous legs. They are thought to have undergone mass wasting events such as landslides on their margins. Sometimes deposits of debris can be seen scattered around them.
On Earth, volcanoes are mainly of two types: shield volcanoes and composite or stratovolcanoes. The shield volcanoes, for example those in Hawaii, eject magma from the depths of the Earth in zones called hot spots. The lava from these volcanoes is relatively fluid and permits the escape of gases. Composite volcanoes, such as Mount St. Helens and Mount Pinatubo, are associated with tectonic plates. In this type of volcano, the oceanic crust of one plate is sliding underneath the other in a subduction zone, together with an inflow of seawater, producing a gummier lava that restricts the exit of the gases, and for that reason, composite volcanoes tend to erupt more violently.
On Venus, where there are no tectonic plates or seawater, volcanoes are mostly of the shield type.[citation needed] Nevertheless, the morphology of volcanoes on Venus is different: on Earth, shield volcanoes can be a few tens of kilometres wide and up to 10 km (6.2 mi) high in the case of Mauna Kea, measured from the sea floor. On Venus, these volcanoes can cover hundreds of kilometres in area, but they are relatively flat, with an average height of 1.5 km (0.93 mi). Large volcanoes cause the Venusian lithosphere to flex downward because of their enormous vertical loads, producing flexural moats or ring fractures around the edifices. Large volcano edifice loading also causes magma chambers to fracture in a sill-like pattern, affecting magma propagation beneath the surface.
Other unique features of Venus's surface are novae (radial networks of dikes or grabens) and arachnoids. A nova is formed when large quantities of magma are extruded onto the surface to form radiating ridges and trenches which are highly reflective to radar. These dikes form a symmetrical network around the central point where the lava emerged, where there may also be a depression caused by the collapse of the magma chamber.
Arachnoids are so named because they resemble a spider's web, featuring several concentric ovals surrounded by a complex network of radial fractures similar to those of a nova. It is not known whether the 250 or so features identified as arachnoids actually share a common origin, or are the result of different geological processes.
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