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We are learning more about Venus, the hot, high-pressure planet<\/p>\n
JSC\/NASA<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
We now know for sure that massive underground tunnels, carved by lava, exist on Venus \u2013 and they are surprisingly wide and different from those on any other planet.<\/p>\n
It is uncontroversial that lava tubes \u2013 underground tunnels carved out by molten rock \u2013 exist on Earth, the moon and Mars. Smaller planets with low gravity tend to form more cavernous tubes, in part because the rock walls are less likely to collapse with weaker gravity. On the moon, for instance, the tubes are so large that scientists have proposed using them as live-in shelters for astronauts, providing shielding from the harsh solar wind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Scientists had seen hints of these lava tubes on Venus, from holes and pits that appear to have formed on its surface, but it was unclear whether these were caused by lava tubes beneath them or by other geological processes, such as from an active fault line.<\/p>\n Now, Barbara De Toffoli at the University of Padova in Italy and her colleagues have found direct evidence of lava tubes on Venus. They also appear to be surprisingly wide and of a comparable volume to those on the moon, despite Venus being more like Earth in terms of its mass and gravity.<\/p>\n \u201cEarth lava tubes have smaller volumes, Mars tubes have slightly bigger volumes, and then the moon\u2019s tubes have even bigger volumes \u2013 and then there\u2019s Venus, completely disrupting this trend, displaying very, very big tube volumes,\u201d De Toffoli told the Europlanet Science Congress in Helsinki, Finland, earlier this month. \u201cThis is already giving away the fact that there\u2019s likely something more on Venus playing a significant role.\u201d<\/p>\n Using radar and mapping data from past missions, De Toffoli and her team analysed how these pits lined up and were arranged near large volcanoes. They found four clear examples that didn\u2019t have any alternative geological explanation, like tectonic activity. The pits also lined up with the steepest part of the volcanoes\u2019 slopes, which is the direction the lava would have travelled, and the ratio of their depth and width was consistent with other known lava tubes.<\/p>\n The tubes\u2019 unexpected size, in particular their width, suggests that the extreme Venusian environment, which is very hot and high pressure, might affect how molten rock moves under its surface, said De Toffoli, and isn\u2019t just dependent on gravity like lava tubes on other planets. \u201cDue to the very high pressure, there\u2019s an overall flattening out of the tubes, instead of having a very intense erosion at the floor that usually happens on other planets.\u201d<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n