Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity

Abstract Exploration of Venus in the 1970–1990s revealed that the geology of Venus, the most Earth‐like of the terrestrial planets, was decidedly un‐Earth‐like, with no plate tectonics, and no record of the first 80% of its history. A major outstanding question is whether Venus is still volcanically...

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Main Authors: J. Brossier, M. S. Gilmore, J. W. Head
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-08-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099765
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author J. Brossier
M. S. Gilmore
J. W. Head
author_facet J. Brossier
M. S. Gilmore
J. W. Head
author_sort J. Brossier
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Exploration of Venus in the 1970–1990s revealed that the geology of Venus, the most Earth‐like of the terrestrial planets, was decidedly un‐Earth‐like, with no plate tectonics, and no record of the first 80% of its history. A major outstanding question is whether Venus is still volcanically active today. We find that regions of Ganis Chasma have low radar emissivity values, due to low volumes of high dielectric minerals formed by surface‐atmosphere weathering on the timescales of around 10 s Ma. This confirms the presence of geologically recent volcanism in association with this major tectonic rift zone. The spatial correspondence of this emissivity signature with transient thermal anomalies suggests that Venus has been volcanically active at this site for at least the last few decades, a prediction that can be tested with space missions to Venus in the coming decade.
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spelling doaj-art-2ea69df39a124fc59ce987afd90125472025-08-20T02:27:42ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072022-08-014915n/an/a10.1029/2022GL099765Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar EmissivityJ. Brossier0M. S. Gilmore1J. W. Head2Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology IAPS National Institute of Astrophysics Rome ItalyDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences Planetary Sciences Group Wesleyan University Middletown CT USADepartment of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Brown University Providence RI USAAbstract Exploration of Venus in the 1970–1990s revealed that the geology of Venus, the most Earth‐like of the terrestrial planets, was decidedly un‐Earth‐like, with no plate tectonics, and no record of the first 80% of its history. A major outstanding question is whether Venus is still volcanically active today. We find that regions of Ganis Chasma have low radar emissivity values, due to low volumes of high dielectric minerals formed by surface‐atmosphere weathering on the timescales of around 10 s Ma. This confirms the presence of geologically recent volcanism in association with this major tectonic rift zone. The spatial correspondence of this emissivity signature with transient thermal anomalies suggests that Venus has been volcanically active at this site for at least the last few decades, a prediction that can be tested with space missions to Venus in the coming decade.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099765VenusMagellanriftsmineralogyageGanis Chasma
spellingShingle J. Brossier
M. S. Gilmore
J. W. Head
Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity
Geophysical Research Letters
Venus
Magellan
rifts
mineralogy
age
Ganis Chasma
title Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity
title_full Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity
title_fullStr Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity
title_full_unstemmed Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity
title_short Extended Rift‐Associated Volcanism in Ganis Chasma, Venus Detected From Magellan Radar Emissivity
title_sort extended rift associated volcanism in ganis chasma venus detected from magellan radar emissivity
topic Venus
Magellan
rifts
mineralogy
age
Ganis Chasma
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099765
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