A team of American scientists from Brown University has discovered that plate tectonics may have existed on Venus in the distant past. This means that the second planet after the Sun once had conditions for the emergence of life. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Nature Astronomy.
Astronomers examined atmospheric data and performed computer simulations. The results showed that the current composition of the gas shell and the current pressure on the surface of Venus could only arise as a result of the movement of continental plates.
“One of our main conclusions is that there are likely two planets in the same solar system at the same time, operating in the plate tectonic regime (the same tectonic regime that allowed the life we see on them to arise). Today’s World.” says the research.
Plate tectonics on Earth also gave rise to chemical processes that stabilize our planet’s surface temperature and make life possible.
By modeling Venus, scientists discovered that they could not obtain the correct composition of the elements found in Venus’ atmosphere today. However, the presence of these plates raises the possibility that ancient Venus was able to support microbial life before it radically departed from its Earth-like appearance.
The team’s findings may be confirmed when NASA’s DAVINCI mission sends a probe into Venus’ atmosphere around 2031. One of the most important questions to be addressed now is what caused the change in plate tectonics on Venus and why conditions on the planet differed so radically from those on Earth.
Planetary scientists before explained The cause of mysterious explosions in Venus’ atmosphere.