Active volcanoes discovered on Venus

Venus’ thick atmosphere makes direct observation of the planet’s surface difficult. However, global radar mapping carried out in the 1990s by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft showed that its surface is covered by numerous volcanoes and that until recently, about 2.5 million years ago, it was likely formed by volcanic activity. This was believed, although the role of volcanism was currently unclear.

However, recent data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Venus Express probe and a study last year using Magellan data on changes in a volcanic fissure indicate signs of more recent activity on the surface of the planet, which is sometimes considered a twin planet.

Now a team of Italian researchers led by Davide Sulcanese from the Gabriele d’Annunzio University has provided new data on current volcanic activity in two regions of Venus after analyzing radar data from the Magellan spacecraft acquired in 1990 and 1992. Results: published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“We detected changes in radar backscatter of various features of volcanic flows on the western flank of Seef Mons and on the western Niobe Plain,” the authors note, adding: “These changes are more reasonably explained as evidence of new, fresh lava flows. associated with volcanic activity that occurred during the spacecraft’s mapping mission.

The Niobe Plain of Venus with a volcanically active zone discovered during the study. / IRSPS/D’Annunzio University/Davide Sulcanese et al.

“Our study shows that volcanic eruptions or lava flows likely occurred between 1990 and 1992 in these two locations: Mount Seth and the Niobe Plain. Variations in radar backscatter (and changes detected at the surface) are interpreted as evidence of this,” confirms SINC Sulcanese.

“Our study is the first to provide direct evidence of lava flows formed during the Magellan mission,” he emphasizes, “and offers more direct evidence of ongoing volcanic activity on Venus.”

These observations of volcanic lava flows in two different regions of Venus indicate that the planet’s volcanic activity may be greater and more widespread than previously thought.

In fact, the researchers say the study “provides more evidence for a geologically active Venus today” and also suggests that its volcanism may even be comparable to that of Earth.

Future missions to Venus

“Future missions such as NASA’s VERITAS and DAVINCI (planned for launch in 2026) and ESA’s EnVision (planned for the 2030s) will help us better understand the extent of volcanic activity on Venus, providing images with unprecedented resolution, allowing us to go deeper study the geological processes of the planet and confirm the findings of this study,” says Sulcanese, a professor in Ingeo’s Master of Planetary Sciences program.

“In addition,” he concludes, “it will be possible to compare these new images with images from the Magellan mission, making it easier to analyze the surface of Venus more than 40 years apart.”

Link:

Davide Sulcanese et al. “Evidence of Continued Volcanic Activity on Venus Detected by Magellan Radar.” Natural astronomy, 2024