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New research could have brought Earth and its unwelcome “evil twin” even closer together.
Today, Venus appears to lack the tectonic activity seen on Earth, but surface features such as faults, folds and volcanoes indicate that the planet was once hellish – with temperatures intense enough to melt lead and surface pressures ecclesiastical – tectonically active.
New research reveals striking plateaus known as “tesserae” found on the surface of Venus, suggesting that, billions of years ago, intense tectonic activity similar to that which created Earth’s earliest continents on Venus may have occurred.
“We did not expect Venus to have such complex geological features, with a scorching surface temperature of 860 degrees Fahrenheit (460 degrees Celsius) and a lack of plate tectonics,” said research leader Fabio Capitanio from the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University. in a statement. “The study [done in collaboration with NASA] challenge our understanding of how planets evolve.”
Related: Venus may be able to support life, according to new atmospheric evidence
What is shaking on Venus?
Plate tectonics refers to the theory that the rigid outer layer of a rocky planet’s crust, called the lithosphere, is made up of several large plates that move around, over, away from, under and against each other. In the process, these actions help shape a planet. So far, only active plate tectonics has been observed on Earth.
Venus, whose lithosphere is stagnant, or “stagnant cover,” has only one plate with minimal movement. However, its tectonic history is still much debated. Many scientists speculate that Venus may have transitioned from limited tectonic movement early in its history to the stagnant envelope model it is today.
To investigate this, Capitanio’s team was drawn to formations on Venus known as the Ishtar Terra highlands – unusual formations given the current lack of plate activity.
The IS [Ishtar Terra highlands] consists of a crustal plateau the size of Australia with an average elevation of about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) comparable to the Tibetan Plateau, surrounded by elongated mountain belts with a height of about 6.2 miles (10 km), higher than the Himalayas. ,” the team wrote in a paper discussing the findings published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
On Earth, these formations are the result of tectonic plates moving against each other. But on Venus, how could they have formed within a quiet surface?
The team speculated that these formations could provide further evidence that Earth and Venus share a similar geological past – and could hold the key to understanding the geological evolution of the rocky planets.
To investigate possible geological mechanisms that led to the formation of the highlands of Ishtar Terra, the scientists used computer modeling along with data collected by the scientists. Magellan spacecraft.
In 1990, NASA’s Magellan mission became the first spacecraft to image the entire surface of Venus. This allowed scientists to determine the thermal, chemical and mechanical evolution of the planet’s mantle and lithosphere and develop scenarios that would have led to the formation of the Ishtar Terra highlands.
The team then compared the model results to Earth’s mantle processes using established scientific methods. And, perhaps most importantly, the researchers tested the different strengths of the lithosphere that would reflect the higher surface temperatures of Venus.
This approach allowed them to compare mantle dynamics and lithosphere behavior, integrating previous models focused on tectonic features or planetary regimes, ranging from mobile (as on Earth) to stagnant surface states (as on Venus) .
The results showed how the Plateaus could be a plausible formation through a process in which the surface of the planet thins due to its low strength, creating elevated areas as molten rock rises. Over time, the downward extension slows as the mantle becomes more resistant, leading to cooling and the formation of high plains surrounded by fold belts.
This mechanism is in line with the formation of the ancient cores of tectonic plates, called “cratons” on the warm Earth, which occurred before the advent of plate tectonics.
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“This finding provides a fascinating new insight into Venus and its possible connections with Earth in the near future,” said Capitanio. “The features we found on Venus are very similar to Earth’s continents, suggesting that Venus’s past dynamics may have been more similar to Earth’s dynamics than previously thought.”
The researcher hopes that by studying similar features on Venus, it will be possible to unlock the secrets of Earth’s early history.
“Our research has paved the way for future missions to Venus, such as DAVINCI, VERITAS, and EnVision,” Capitanio concluded. “These missions will provide further insights into the geological history of Venus and its connection to Earth.”
