A new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy points out that Venus it may have undergone tectonic plate movements similar to those believed to have occurred on the early Earth. According to researchers, This raises the possibility that this scorching planet may have harbored life in the remote past. The discovery may also provide clues about the origin of the Solar System.
Life on Venus?
Using atmospheric data from Venus and computer modeling, the team led by Brown University scientists demonstrates that the composition of the planet’s current atmosphere and surface pressure would only have been possible as a result of an early form of plate tectonics. These blocks are part of a critical process for the existence of life. It involves multiple continental plates pushing, pulling and sliding beneath each other.
On Earth, this process intensified over billions of years, forming new continents and mountains, and leading to chemical reactions that stabilized the planet’s surface temperature. This resulted in an environment more conducive to the development of life. Venus, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction and today its surface has temperatures high enough to melt lead.
Researchers previously credited Venus’ heat to something known as a “stagnant cap.” This means that its surface would have just a single plate with minimal amounts of movement and gases being released into the atmosphere. But the new study suggests that wasn’t always the case.
To explain the abundance of nitrogen and carbon dioxide present in Venus’ atmosphere, the researchers conclude that the planet must have had plate tectonics some time after its formation, around 4.5 billion years ago. This reinforces the possibility of the presence of microbial life in Venus’ remote past. and shows that at a certain point this planet and Earth (which are in the same solar neighborhood, have approximately the same size and have the same mass, density and volume) were more similar than previously thought.
2023-10-28 01:40:25
#study #suggests #Venus #harbored #life #History #Channel #Brazil
