Volcanoes in Venus

1991/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Geologia
• Astronomia

The space called agellan has made known to us the volcanoes of Venus through images of radar sent.

The so-called Magellan spacecraft tells us the volcanoes of Venus with radar images sent. The crowns seen in the image are remnants of massive eruptions. The geologist Ellen Stofan, from a laboratory in Pasadona, has discovered more than 40 crowns on Venus.

Magellan took his first photos in September last year and last May ended his first observation. As can be seen in the photos, very long volcanoes appear (between 160 and 1,000 km long) and sequences crowns between 1 and 2 km high.

According to Stofan, the high fractured craters could be a combination of two factors, the combination of the planet's high temperature (480°C on average) and lack of water. At high temperatures the weight of the rocks is not usually enough to withstand the soil and the eruptions cause the displacement of the rocks. These fractured formations are found as they were produced, since there is no water that produces erosion.

It is difficult to know the antiquity of these volcanoes. In fact, the Magellan satellite has now completed its work. However, as on the second occasion Magellan will take more selective photos from the planet, the researchers hope to have that data.