Noble Gases and Stable Isotopes Track the Origin and Early Evolution of the Venus Atmosphere

Avice, Guillaume; Parai, Rita; Jacobson, Seth A.; Labidi, Jabrane; Trainer, M. G.; Petkov, Mihail P.

doi:10.1007/s11214-022-00929-9

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 143 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Molecular oxygen, so important to us on Earth, is present on Venus at only 50 parts per million or less on Venus; this means that the absolute mass of molecular oxygen in the Venus atmosphere is at least two orders of magnitude less than on Earth. Beyond the bulk constituents of each atmosphere, scientists are quite interested in trace components such as the myriad isotopes of noble gasses (e.g., Baines et al 2013;Chassefière et al 2012;Avice et al 2022). For example, atmospheric argon-40 is twice as prevalent at Earth compared to Venus at present day (e.g., Von Zahn et al 1983;Kaula 1999;O'Rourke and Korenaga 2015).…”

Section: Basic Properties Of the Atmospherementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Salvador et al (2023) investigate the role of water in the early atmosphere of Venus and the processes that may have caused volatile loss at early times. Avice et al (2022) focus on how measurements of isotopes of volatiles and noble gasses can constrain models of Venus's evolution. Two other chapters discuss the myriad connections between the atmosphere and solid body.…”

Section: How the Atmosphere May Have Evolvedmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Basic Properties Of the Atmospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How the Atmosphere May Have Evolvedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent calculations suggest that all of Earth's water and other volatiles may have been delivered by volatile-rich carbonaceous chondrites, initially formed outside the orbit of Jupiter but displaced inwards by the planet's growth and migration (Kleine et al 2020). However, timing of the accretion of the volatiles to Earth is still an active area of research (Avice et al 2022;Salvador et al 2023, this journal). Note that Marty (2012) suggests that the isotope signatures of terrestrial H, N, Ne and Ar may be the result of mixing between two end-members of solar and chondritic compositions, with the N and H isotopic compositions suggesting a primitive meteoritic origin.…”

Section: Water On the Earthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Section 2 describes what to look for in the atmosphere today (D/H and noble gases, see Avice et al 2022 this journal, for more details on noble gases) and what to look for on the surface in terms of felsic materials (similar to material from Earth's continents, formed at subduction factories) that may have a connection to surface water-rock interactions. On the other hand, if tesserae prove to be mainly basaltic, they formed without the need for liquid water, which would support a dryer evolution at least at the time they were formed.…”

Section: Linking Possible Past Habitable States To Present-day Observ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Habitability of Venus

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Venus today is inhospitable at the surface, its average temperature of 750 K being incompatible to the existence of life as we know it. However, the potential for past surface habitability and upper atmosphere (cloud) habitability at the present day is hotly debated, as the ongoing discussion regarding a possible phosphine signature coming from the clouds shows. We review current understanding about the evolution of Venus with special attention to scenarios where the planet may have been capable of hosting microbial life. We compare the possibility of past habitability on Venus to the case of Earth by reviewing the various hypotheses put forth concerning the origin of habitable conditions and the emergence and evolution of plate tectonics on both planets. Life emerged on Earth during the Hadean when the planet was dominated by higher mantle temperatures (by about $200~^{\circ}\text{C}$ 200 ∘ C ), an uncertain tectonic regime that likely included squishy lid/plume-lid and plate tectonics, and proto continents. Despite the lack of well-preserved crust dating from the Hadean and Paleoarchean, we attempt to review current understanding of the environmental conditions during this critical period based on zircon crystals and geochemical signatures from this period, as well as studies of younger, relatively well-preserved rocks from the Paleoarchean. For these early, primitive life forms, the tectonic regime was not critical but it became an important means of nutrient recycling, with possible consequences on the global environment in the long-term, that was essential to the continuation of habitability and the evolution of life. For early Venus, the question of stable surface water is closely related to tectonics. We discuss potential transitions between stagnant lid and (episodic) tectonics with crustal recycling, as well as consequences for volatile cycling between Venus’ interior and atmosphere. In particular, we review insights into Venus’ early climate and examine critical questions about early rotation speed, reflective clouds, and silicate weathering, and summarize implications for Venus’ long-term habitability. Finally, the state of knowledge of the Venusian clouds and the proposed detection of phosphine is covered.

show abstract

“…Salvador et al (2023, this issue) investigate the role of water in the early atmosphere of Venus and the processes that may have caused volatile loss at early times. Avice et al (2022, this issue) focus on how measurements of isotopes of volatiles and noble gasses can constrain models of Venus's evolution. Two other chapters discuss the myriad connections between the atmosphere and solid body.…”

Section: How the Atmosphere May Have Evolvedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

O’Rourke

Wilson

Borrelli

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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

Noble Gases and Stable Isotopes Track the Origin and Early Evolution of the Venus Atmosphere

Cited by 21 publications

References 143 publications

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

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

The Habitability of Venus

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About