Evidence continues to accumulate that Venus is more geologically active than previously thought.
Planetary scientists combing decades-old data from NASA’s Magellan probe have found signs of lava flows originating from two volcanoes on Venus that erupted in the early 1990s. That was when Magellan circled the hellish world overhead.
That means the second time scientists have identified direct geological evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus, suggesting the planet could be geologically active as Earthwith volcanoes that may be spewing on its surface as you read this.
Related: Venus’ volcanoes may be fueled by ancient violent impacts
Venus and Earth are almost the same size and were covered by the same amount of water billions of years ago. For this reason, many scientists ask why Venus turned into a hellscape while our planet blossomed into a habitable sphere. Studying the volcanic activity of Venus, which scientists believe is driven by internal heat, may offer a window into the evolution of both planets.
The newly spotted lava flows appear to have flowed from the western slopes of the huge shield volcano Sif Mons and Niobe Planitia, a relatively flat area that is home to many volcanoes. Referring to lava flows on Earth, scientists estimate that the Sif Mons eruption spewed about 12 square miles (30 square kilometers) of rock, enough to fill 36,000 Olympic swimming pools. The eruption of Niobe Planitia spewed lava that could fill 54,000 Olympic swimming pools, NASA he said declaration. To put this into context, the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa in Hawaii – the largest active volcano on Earth – spewed enough lava to fill 100,000 Olympic swimming pools.
Evidence of newly found lava flows is rooted in radio waves beamed to Venus by the Magellan radar. These waves traveled through a dense and toxic planet clouds before bouncing off the surface of the world and returning to the spaceship. These reflections, known as backscatter, can carry information about the planet’s rocky surface.
Analyzing Magellan data collected between 1990 and 1992, the researchers found that the signal strength increased during later flybys. They interpret the spike as bright, freshly formed rocks on the surface – which are probably solidified lava.
“We interpret these signals as flows along slopes or volcanic plains that can deviate around obstacles such as shield volcanoes as fluid,” study co-author Marco Mastrogiuseppe of Sapienza University of Rome said in a statement. “Having ruled out other possibilities, we have confirmed that our best interpretation is that these are new lava flows.”
The newly identified lava flows appear bright in the radar data, which could mean they are young and therefore not yet eroded. Alternatively, the results could also mean that the lava is rougher than its older, smoother surroundings, said lead study author Davide Sulcanese of the Università d’Annunzio in Pescara, Italy. Sky & Telescope.
The findings are based on last year’s historic discovery of the altered vent of the Maat Mons volcano near Venus’ equator, which appears to have changed shape and grown noticeably over the course of eight months, possibly as a result of eruption-induced collapse.
“This exciting work provides another example of volcanic change on Venus from new lava flows that extend the venting change that Dr. Robert Herrick and I reported last year,” study co-author Scott Hensley, lead scientist Current drive laboratory in California, he said in a statement. “This result, along with the earlier discovery of current geologic activity, increases the planetary science community’s enthusiasm for future missions to Venus.”
This research is described in paper published Monday (May 27) in the journal Nature Astronomy.