NASA scientists discovered, for the first time, a active volcano on Venuswhich probably erupted in 1991. Scientists compare the size of the lava flow generated by the activity of this volcano with the Kilauea eruption 2018 on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Scientists made the discovery of active volcano on Venus after analyzing archival images of this planet taken more than 30 years ago by NASA’s Magellan mission. The photographs revealed that a volcanic vent located at the summit of Size Mons it changed shape and increased significantly in size during 1991.
“I really didn’t expect to be successful, but after about 200 hours of manually comparing images from different Magellanic orbits, I saw two images of the same region taken eight months apart that showed telltale geological changes caused by an eruption.”
Robert Herrick, Research Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
How did they model the active volcano on Venus?
Robert Herrick found the geological changes at Atla Regio, a vast mountainous region near the equator of Venus that is home to two of the largest volcanoes on the planet, Ozza Mons y Size Mons. The region was long thought to be volcanically active, but there was no direct evidence of recent activity.
- While examining Magellan’s radar images, Herrick identified a volcanic vent associated with Size Mons which changed significantly between February and October 1991.
In the first images analyzed (February 1991), the vent appeared nearly circular, covering an area of less than 2.2 square kilometers. It had steep inner slopes and showed signs of lava draining down its outer slopes, factors that suggested activity. In radar images captured eight months later, the same vent had doubled in size and it was deformed. Also it seemed to be filled to the brim with a lake of lava.
The scientists compare the size of the lava flow generated by the activity of Maat Mons with the Kilauea eruption of 2018, which forever changed the island of Hawaii. From May to August, large lava flows they covered the land southeast of the park destroying more than 700 homes.
The finding of active volcano on Venus it’s just the beginning
Scientists study active volcanoes to understand how a planet’s interior can shape its crust, drive its evolution, and affect its habitability. One of the new NASA missions a Venus it will do just that, the agency said in a statement.
“Runned by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California, VERITAS short for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy, will be released within a decade.”
NASA
And he added that this orbiter will study Venus from the surface to the core to understand how a rocky planet the same size as Earth took a very different path, becoming a world covered in volcanic plains and deformed terrain hidden under a thick, hot and toxic atmosphere.
Via: UnoTv
