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Washington/Houston: Exploring atmospheric evolution of Venus, a new study has examined a critical transition in the tectonic activity of Earth's sister planet, revealing how this shift fundamentally reshaped its atmosphere.
Dr. Matt Weller's latest research, completed as a Urey Fellow at the Universities Space Research Association's (USRA) Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), provided compelling new answers to this enduring mystery.
Unlike Earth, Venus currently does not operate with plate tectonics and is shrouded in a dense atmosphere that has led to extreme greenhouse conditions, rendering liquid water and life as we know it impossible. What led to this dramatic difference between the sibling planets, Dr. Matt Weller found in his study published in Science Advances.
Using sophisticated computational models, Dr. Weller demonstrated that periodic lithosphere disruptions - combined with massive volcanic outgassing over millions of years, may have transformed Venus from a planet with Earth-like characteristics into the extreme greenhouse world we observe today.
On Venus in the distant past, massive volcanic outgassing and surface resurfacing events - triggered by shifts in mantle convection, contributed to the majority of its current dense atmosphere, some 90 times that of the Earth's, in relatively short time scales. Over billions of years, these processes created the runaway greenhouse conditions we see today, the study revealed.
"Our results suggest that Venus was not always the harsh world we see now. At one time, it may have had conditions more akin to that of the Earth", said Dr. Weller.
Dr. Weller further explained that Venus' history offers a cautionary tale about how dynamic geological processes can alter a planet's fate.
"This research not only answers long-standing questions about Venus' past," Dr. Weller added, "but also underscores how planetary tectonic transitions can drive profound atmospheric changes."
This research deepens our understanding of Venus and also highlights the potential for dramatic climate and tectonic changes on other rocky planets.
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