Venus is alive – geologically speaking

[Ian David]

8 April 2010
ESA’s Venus Express has returned the clearest indication yet that Venus is still geologically active. Relatively young lava flows have been identified by the way they emit infrared radiation. The finding suggests the planet remains capable of volcanic eruptions.

It has long been recognised that there are simply not enough craters on Venus. Something is wiping the planet’s surface clean. That something is thought to be volcanic activity but the question is whether it happens quickly or slowly? Is there some sort of cataclysmic volcanic activity that resurfaces the entire planet with lava, or a gradual sequence of smaller volcanic eruptions? New results suggest the latter.

“Now we have strong evidence right at the surface for recent eruptions,” says Sue Smrekar, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

That strong evidence comes in the form of compositional differences compared to the surrounding landscape in three volcanic regions. The data were collected by the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft, which has been orbiting the planet since April 2006.


The volcanic peak Pubis Idunn Mons

More:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUKVZNK7G_index_0.html

Hat-tip to: http://twitter.com/MThellfire/status/11839832707

[rocktivity]

1. Athletically speaking, Venus is still in the top five

:headbang:
rocktivity