Having a hot temperature of over 400 degrees Celsius is one of the characteristics of the planet Venus, as well as being the brightest in the eastern sky at dawn this morning. However, what makes the planet hot as hell?
NASA Space Studies researchers have revealed that the cause of this morning star’s heat was due to volcanic activity that lasted for hundreds to thousands of centuries.
Michael J. Way of Institute of Space Studies NASA’s Goddard in New York said the eruption of massive amounts of material helped transform Venus from the temperate, humid world into the acidic hothouse it is today.
This paper also discusses the history of Earth causing several mass extinctions on our planet millions of years ago.
“By understanding the records of Earth’s and Venus’ major icy provinces, we can determine whether these events may have caused Venus’ current (warm) conditions,” Way said.
Way, the lead author of the article “Large-Scale Volcanism and Heat Death of Terrestrial Worlds,” said that the large ice provinces are the product of periods of large-scale volcanism lasting tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years.
He said the discovery could deposit more than 100,000 cubic miles of volcanic rock on the surface. On the top surface, this could be enough molten rock to bury the entire state of Texas half a mile deep.
Quoted by the NASA website, Venus currently produces an average surface temperature of about 462 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt lead and spacecraft.
That’s why, of all the missions Russia has sent to the planet’s surface, only four have managed to send images to Earth.
But modern Venus can be very different from ancient Venus. Several studies have shown that ancient Venus had an atmosphere similar to that of ancient Earth.
According to the research, the massive volcanic effusion on Venus is to blame for the condition of the planet. In particular, the occurrence of several eruptions in a short geological time span could cause an out-of-control greenhouse effect that initiates the planet’s transition from wet and temperate to hot and dry.
Additionally, large areas of dense volcanic rock cover 80% of Venus’ surface in total.
“While we’re still not sure how often these field-creating events occur, we should be able to narrow it down by studying Earth’s history,” he said.
Life on Earth has experienced at least five mass extinction events since multicellular life began about 540 million years ago.
Each period wiped out more than 50 percent of the planet’s animal life. Most of these extinction events were caused or exacerbated by the type of eruption that produced frozen provinces.
In the case of Earth, the climate disruption from this event was not enough to cause a runaway greenhouse effect like on Venus, according to reports Scientific alarm.
Furthermore, Way’s study also shows that large volcanic eruptions over a long period of time were responsible for transforming this planet into what it is today.
Way revealed Venus experienced its own massive volcanic explosion that created Venus’ modern-day atmosphere, with its extremes of temperature and pressure.
More specifically, there is said to have been a violent explosion over a period of just a million years that created a runaway greenhouse effect.
The runaway greenhouse effect occurs when the atmosphere prevents the planet’s heat from radiating out into space. With no chance to cool off, the temperature soared to extreme levels, like a greenhouse with all the vents closed.
So intense volcanic activity played a role in shaping Earth’s habitability and how it simply avoided the same fate as Venus.
(may/lth)
