• Question: i know there are volcanos on venus, do these react the same as they do here on earth?

    Asked by campbell123 to David on 23 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: David Pyle

      David Pyle answered on 23 Mar 2011:

      Yes, there are strucures on Venus that look like volcanoes – some bigger and longer than anything on Earth. Beyond this, we know very little: we know their shape, but not their composition. We don’t really know how old or young they are, though we can make some guesses. And no one yet has seen an eruption on Venus – so we don’t know if they are still active. When there were eruptions on Venus, three things would have helped make the eruptions different from Earth:
      – the surface atmosphere is denser (90 x pressure at sea level on Earth), and hotter (400 C).
      – there is no liquid water on Venus.
      So lavas would flow further (no sea to cool them down), and eruptions would be less explosive (more pressure) than on Earth.

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