Planet Venus, which is the closest to Earth, may have active volcanoes on its surface, according to the recent findings of scientists.
A team of scientists has found that the volcanoes on Venus are active and lava flows on this planet.
In order to come to the conclusion that there are volcanoes on Venus, the researchers analyzed data collected by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission.
According to this data, there are temporary spikes in temperature observed at several spots on the surface of Venus.
These hotspots, which were flashing and fading over the course of several days, seem to be generated by active lava flows on Venus’ surface, scientists said.
Geologist James W. Head from Brown University and one of the lead authors of the study, explained that according to their data, there is a strong evidence that there are active volcanoes on Venus.
According to Head, this is a very important discovery that can help the scientists better understand how our own planet evolved.
The researchers identified the hotspots in the thermal images taken by the Venus Monitoring Camera, which is part of the Venus Express spacecraft.
According to the data, there are spikes in temperature of hundred degrees Fahrenheit in these hotspots, which range in size-some are 1 square km and others are 200 km.
These hotspots were gathered in a very large rift zone known as Ganiki Chasma.
These rift zones are the result of the crust stretching due to internal forces and the hot magma that comes up to the surface of the planet.
Head and his colleague Mikhail Ivanov were involved in a previous mission of mapping the region, which was part of a global geologic map of Venus.
This map had been generated during the Venera missions conducted by the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
The map was also generated by the US mission Magellan at the beginning of the 1990s.
Previous mapping suggested that the Ganiki Chasma zone was very young, from a geological point of view, but scientists did not know just how young it really was, until now.
Head explained that they knew the Ganiki Chasma was produced by volcanic activity rather recently, but they weren’t sure if it was formed a few days ago or a billion years ago.
The scientists detailed their findings regarding the active volcanoes on Venus in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
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