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Venus Shows Signs of Ongoing Geological Activity with Active Rift Zones
Scientists from ETH Zurich have used three‑dimensional computer simulations together with radar data from NASA’s Magellan mission to analyse the giant chasmata on Venus. The study focuses on the features known as Ganis Chasma, Dali Chasma and Devana Chasma, whose shapes and steep flank ridges indicate that the planet’s crust is still deforming. Modelling suggests that rift flanks are opening at rates of roughly three to ten centimetres per year, a speed that points to recent or even ongoing volcanic activity. These findings challenge the long‑standing view of Venus as a geologically dead world and imply that, despite surface temperatures around 460 °C and a surface pressure about 90 times that of Earth, the interior may be tectonically active. The results were published in the journal Nature Geoscience, providing new evidence that Venus’s crustal dynamics resemble Earth’s rift zones, albeit under vastly different conditions.
Entities
Dali Chasma · Devana Chasma · ETH Zurich · Ganis Chasma · Venus
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The chasmata examined include Ganis Chasma, Dali Chasma and Devana Chasma. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] The findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] Rift flanks on Venus are opening at rates of three to ten centimetres per year. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] Data from NASA’s Magellan radar mission were used to build topographic models of Venus. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] Venus lacks Earth‑like plate tectonics but may still have a moving crust. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] Venus’s surface temperature is about 460 °C and surface pressure roughly 90 times Earth’s. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] ETH Zurich researchers identified large rift zones (chasmata) on Venus that suggest ongoing geological activity. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de
- [● 3 SOURCES] Computer modelling indicates that Venus may host active volcanism. www.fehmarn24.de · www.daswetter.com · www.hna.de