Earth-like lithospheric thickness and heat flow on Venus consistent with active rifting

Smrekar, S. E.; Ostberg, Colby; O’Rourke, J. G.

doi:10.1038/s41561-022-01068-0

Cited by 29 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Values of 55-60 and 65-70 mW m −2 predicted far from the highly deformed area of the rifting by models with 25 and 35 km-thick diabase crust, respectively, are in agreement with the estimates of 20-75 mW m −2 for the global average on Venus (light gray area in Figure 15a; Gülcher et al, 2020;Smrekar et al, 2022). However, our models predicted values similar to the maximum estimates for Venus, suggesting that thicker crust are unlikely for the global average of Venus.…”

Section: Heat Fluxsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…The observables for Venus to which we can compare are significantly more scarce than on Earth, but the topographic data provides profiles of rifts on Venus (e.g., Guseva, 2016; Guseva & Ivanov, 2019; Kiefer & Swafford, 2004; Stoddard & Jurdy, 2012) and modeling studies have provided various estimates of the global heat flow (Borrelli et al., 2021; Ghail, 2015; O’Rourke & Smrekar, 2018; Smrekar et al., 2022; Solomon et al., 1992). In addition, missions like EnVision (de Oliveira et al., 2018; Ghail et al., 2016) and VERITAS (Smrekar et al., 2020) are anticipated to provide a wealth of new information on Venus' surface and interior in the coming decade.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rifting Venus: Insights From Numerical Modeling

et al. 2023

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Venus is a terrestrial planet with dimensions similar to the Earth, but a vastly different geodynamic evolution, with recent studies debating the occurrence and extent of tectonic‐like processes happening on the planet. The precious direct data that we have for Venus is very little, and there are only few numerical modeling studies concerning lithospheric‐scale processes. However, the use of numerical models has proven crucial for our understanding of large‐scale geodynamic processes of the Earth. Therefore, here we adapt 2D thermomechanical numerical models of rifting on Earth to Venus to study how the observed rifting structures on the Venusian surface could have been formed. More specifically, we aim to investigate how rifting evolves under the Venusian surface conditions and the proposed lithospheric structure. Our results show that a strong crustal rheology such as diabase is needed to localize strain and to develop a rift under the high surface temperature and pressure of Venus. The evolution of the rift formation is predominantly controlled by the crustal thickness, with a 25 km‐thick diabase crust required to produce mantle upwelling and melting. The surface topography produced by our models fits well with the topography profiles of the Ganis and Devana Chasmata for different crustal thicknesses. We therefore speculate that the difference in these rift features on Venus could be due to different crustal thicknesses. Based on the estimated heat flux of Venus, our models indicate that a crust with a global average lower than 35 km is the most likely crustal thickness on Venus.

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Section: Heat Fluxsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rifting Venus: Insights From Numerical Modeling

et al. 2023

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“…Broadly speaking, exploitation of the low spherical harmonic degrees of the geoid and topography allows for estimation of global and/or regional lithospheric thickness. Scientists also apply models of lithospheric flexure to the topography of individual volcanotectonic features (e.g., Johnson and Sandwell 1994;Russell and Johnson 2021;Borrelli et al 2021;Smrekar et al 2022a;Ghail et al 2023) and impact craters (e.g., Ivanov et al 1986;Grimm and Solomon 1988;Brown and Grimm 1996), which provide local estimates. Depending on the study, the lithospheric thickness of Venus has been reported as ∼ 0-600 km (but usually < 100 km), depending on what isostatic equilibrium models are assumed and/or what types of features are studied (e.g., Anderson and Smrekar 2006;Moore and Schubert 1997;Orth and Solomatov 2011).…”

Section: Basic Properties Of the Interiormentioning

confidence: 99%

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth’s Sister Planet

et al. 2023

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Venus is the planet in the Solar System most similar to Earth in terms of size and (probably) bulk composition. Until the mid-20th century, scientists thought that Venus was a verdant world—inspiring science-fictional stories of heroes battling megafauna in sprawling jungles. At the start of the Space Age, people learned that Venus actually has a hellish surface, baked by the greenhouse effect under a thick, CO2-rich atmosphere. In popular culture, Venus was demoted from a jungly playground to (at best) a metaphor for the redemptive potential of extreme adversity. However, whether Venus was much different in the past than it is today remains unknown. In this review, we show how now-popular models for the evolution of Venus mirror how the scientific understanding of modern Venus has changed over time. Billions of years ago, Venus could have had a clement surface with water oceans. Venus perhaps then underwent at least one dramatic transition in atmospheric, surface, and interior conditions before present day. This review kicks off a topical collection about all aspects of Venus’s evolution and how understanding Venus can teach us about other planets, including exoplanets. Here we provide the general background and motivation required to delve into the other manuscripts in this collection. Finally, we discuss how our ignorance about the evolution of Venus motivated the prioritization of new spacecraft missions that will rediscover Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor—beginning a new age of Venus exploration.

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“…These studies require assumptions about crustal Broadly speaking, exploitation of the low spherical harmonic degrees of the geoid and topography allows for estimation of global and/or regional lithospheric thickness. Scientists also apply models of lithospheric flexure to the topography of individual volcano-tectonic features (e.g., Johnson & Sandwell 1994;Russell & Johnson 2021;Borrelli et al 2021;Smrekar et al 2022a;Ghail et al 2023, this issue) and impact craters (e.g., Ivanov et al 1986;Grimm & Solomon 1988;Brown & Grimm 1996), which provide local estimates. Depending on the study, the lithospheric thickness of Venus has been reported as ~0-600 km (but usually <100 km),…”

Section: Basic Properties Of the Interiormentioning

confidence: 99%

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth's Sister Planet

O’Rourke

Wilson

Borrelli

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Venus is the planet in the Solar System most similar to Earth in terms of size and (probably) bulk composition. Until the mid-20th century, scientists thought that Venus was a verdant world-inspiring science-fictional stories of heroes battling megafauna in sprawling jungles. At the start of the Space Age, people learned that Venus actually has a hellish surface, baked by the greenhouse effect under a thick, CO2-rich atmosphere. In popular culture, Venus was demoted from a jungly playground to (at best) a metaphor for the redemptive potential of extreme adversity. However, whether Venus was much different in the past than it is today remains unknown. In this review, we show how now-popular models for the evolution of Venus mirror how the scientific understanding of modern Venus has changed over time. Billions of years ago, Venus could have had a clement surface with water oceans. Venus perhaps then underwent at least one dramatic transition in atmospheric, surface, and interior conditions before present day. This review kicks off a topical collection about all aspects of Venus's evolution and how understanding Venus can teach us about other planets, including exoplanets. Here we provide the general background and motivation required to delve into the other manuscripts in this collection. Finally, we discuss how our ignorance about the evolution of Venus motivated the prioritization of new spacecraft missions that will essentially rediscover Earth's nearest planetary neighbor-beginning a new age of Venus exploration.

show abstract

Earth-like lithospheric thickness and heat flow on Venus consistent with active rifting

Cited by 29 publications

References 62 publications

Rifting Venus: Insights From Numerical Modeling

Rifting Venus: Insights From Numerical Modeling

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth’s Sister Planet

Venus, the Planet: Introduction to the Evolution of Earth's Sister Planet

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