14 DAY TRIAL // As it turns out, there is a whole lot of commotion going on both deep inside and on the surface of Venus, the second planet from the Sun in our Solar System.
So say a team of Brown University researchers and colleagues in a report published earlier this week in the science journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The scientists explain that, having closely analyzed data produced by the Venus Express spacecraft, they found evidence of volcanic activity on this nearby planet.
Well, what is this evidence?
Apparently, Venus' surface temperature is not constant. On the contrary, Venus Express data hints at sudden spikes. Interestingly, such transient temperature shifts don't affect entire landscapes. Rather, they happen in very specific areas.
Further, these areas greatly vary in size. Some are merely 1 square kilometer (0.4 square miles), others stretch out over an impressive 200 square kilometers (77 square miles).
The temperature spikes happen with no warning and usually fade in a matter of days. The most reasonable explanation is that they happen because of lava flows, scientists say.
This theory is reinforced by the fact that the majority of temperature shifts recorded on nearby Venus happen in a large rift zone dubbed Ganiki Chasma. Thus, rifts are known to be created by magma pushing and stretching a planet's crust.
Lava flows mean internal turmoil
If the temperature spikes documented by the European Space Agency's Venus Express mission are, in fact, the result of lava flows, this indicates that the planet's core is still active in this day and age.
Plainly put, the orb likely hides magma reservoirs big and restless enough to birth volcanoes on the planet's surface and trigger regular eruptions.
“We were able to show strong evidence that Venus is volcanically, and thus internally, active today. This is a major finding that helps us understand the evolution of planets like our own,” said researcher James W. Head.
