Venus is deforming: 36-year-old data reveals big quakes changing the planet
This artist's concept of the large Quetzalpetlatl Corona located in Venus' Southern Hemisphere depicts active volcanism and a subduction zone, where the foreground crust plunges into the planet's interior. (Photo: Nasa)
advertisementResearchers studied a type of feature called a corona that ranges in size from dozens to hundreds of miles across. Nasa said that corona is most often thought to be the location where a plume of hot, buoyant material from the planet's mantle rises, pushing against the lithosphere above.These structures are usually oval, with a concentric fracture system surrounding them. Hundreds of coronae are known to exist on Venus.The details, published in the journal Science Advances, reveal the evidence of this tectonic activity within data from NASA's Magellan mission, which orbited Venus in the 1990s and gathered the most detailed gravity and topography data on the planet currently available.'Coronae are not found on Earth today; however, they may have existed when our planet was young and before plate tectonics had been established. By combining gravity and topography data, this research has provided a new and important insight into the possible subsurface processes currently shaping the surface of Venus,' the study's lead author, Gael Cascioli said.
Vast, quasi-circular features on Venus' surface may reveal that the planet has ongoing tectonics. (Photo: ESA)
advertisementThe spacecraft used its radar system to see through Venus' thick atmosphere and map the topography of its mountains and plains. Researchers found a number of coronae on Venus. "The most exciting thing for our study is that we can now say there are most likely various and ongoing active processes driving their formation. We believe these same processes may have occurred early in Earth's history,' coauthor Anna Glcher added.This work marks the latest instance of scientists returning to Magellan data to find that Venus exhibits geologic processes that are more Earth-like than originally thought.The findings can enhance the development of new spacecraft being readied for Venus that also includes India's Shukrayaan. Must Watch
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