{"id":23810,"date":"2025-05-26T01:25:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/magellan-data-provides-new-insight-into-tectonic-processes-on-venus\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T01:25:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:25:53","slug":"magellan-data-provides-new-insight-into-tectonic-processes-on-venus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/magellan-data-provides-new-insight-into-tectonic-processes-on-venus\/","title":{"rendered":"Magellan data provides new insight into tectonic processes on Venus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 30 years after its demise in the Venusian atmosphere, NASA\u2019s Magellan mission recently provided new insight into tectonic processes on Venus. Scientists studied large, rounded geologic features called coronae by combining gravity measurements and topography data collected by Magellan throughout its mission. Not only does the new study shed light on Venus\u2019 geology, but its methods also form a basis for analyzing the data collected by future missions to the planet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

While Venus and Earth are often considered \u201ctwin planets,\u201d due to their similar sizes and compositions, the two differ vastly in many ways. One of these differences is how the planet\u2019s surface is renewed. On Earth, plate tectonics drives this process, in which sections of crust, called plates, slowly drift around the planet. Venus lacks these tectonic plates, but its surface is still affected by geologic processes, such as volcanism, which was observed on the planet last year using Magellan\u2019s data.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoronae are not found on Earth today; however, they may have existed when our planet was young and before plate tectonics had been established,\u201d said the study lead, Gael Cascioli of the University of Maryland and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center. \u201cBy combining gravity and topography data, this research has provided a new and important insight into the possible subsurface processes currently shaping the surface of Venus.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Magellan\u2019s observations of four coronae. Clockwise from top left: Artemis Corona, Quetzalpetlatl Corona, Bahet Corona, and Fotla Corona. (Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech)<\/p>\n

Many coronae form as a plume of buoyant material in the planet\u2019s mantle pushes up to the solid crust and upper mantle, together known as the lithosphere. Coronae range in size from 60 km across to as large as 2,500 km across and vary in their shapes and geological surroundings. As a result of this diversity, scientists consider coronae a valuable tool in understanding Venus\u2019s geologic history.<\/p>\n

The new study analyzed four ways in which these plumes and the lithosphere can interact. Two of these scenarios recycle crust materials, driving the planet\u2019s surface renewal. Lithospheric dripping recycles material as chunks of rock from the lithosphere sink, or \u201cdrip\u201d into the mantle. In the subduction scenario, the plume pushes the surrounding material into the mantle.<\/p>\n

The scientists modelled the interactions between the plume and lithosphere using 3D and compared them with the topography and gravity data collected by Magellan using an algorithm. The algorithm first selected the most likely scenarios using the topography data alone. It then compared Magellan\u2019s gravity data to decide whether the corona was in an early stage, in its mid-life, or inactive.<\/p>\n

Using this method, the team studied 75 coronae and found that plume-lithosphere interactions are happening at 52 of them, which they consider active coronae.<\/p>\n

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Illustration of the tectonic processes that might be responsible for Venus\u2019 coronae. (Credit: Anna G\u00fclcher, CC BY-NC)<\/p>\n

\u201cCoronae are abundant on Venus. They are very large features, and people have proposed different theories over the years as to how they formed,\u201d said coauthor Anna G\u00fclcher of the University of Bern in Switzerland. \u201cThe most exciting thing for our study is that we can now say there are most likely various and ongoing active processes driving their formation. We believe these same processes may have occurred early in Earth\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n