New discovery on Venus reveals Earth's hot twin has gotten even hotter

Venus, unlike Earth, has a single, unbroken crust with no signs of subduction or plate tectonic activity. This absence of plate movement has long intrigued scientists, especially considering that Venus was once thought to resemble Earth, complete with flowing water and a habitable environment. Over time, however, Venus transformed into the hostile and scorching planet we know today, and researchers have been eager to uncover the reasons behind this dramatic change.

A recent study published in Nature Communications sheds new light on the structure and behavior of Venus’s crust, revealing unexpected geological activity. The research suggests that a metamorphic process is taking place, influenced by rock density and cycles of melting-challenging the traditional view that Venus’s outer crust layer would continuously thicken due to a lack of subduction mechanisms.

Unlike Earth’s crust, which is divided into massive plates that drift and shift, forming folds and faults through tectonic motion, Venus’s crust remains fixed. On Earth, rocks in subducting plates are subjected to intense heat and pressure, causing metamorphic changes as they descend into the mantle. Surprisingly, Venus also experiences metamorphism despite its static crust.

According to the new findings, Venus’s crust is relatively thin-averaging around 40 kilometers and reaching up to 65 kilometers in some regions. NASA scientist Justin Filiberto, a co-author of the study, explained that this thinness is unusual given Venus’s extreme surface conditions. Their models show that as the crust grows thicker, its lower layers become so dense that they either detach and fall into the mantle or melt due to intense heat.

This process not only allows water and various elements to cycle back into the planet’s interior but also helps sustain volcanic activity by generating new magma. These insights offer a fresh perspective on how Venus’s internal processes operate without the need for tectonic movement.

The discovery is especially timely, as India is preparing to launch its first Venus mission, Shukrayaan, by the end of the decade-offering a new opportunity to explore the planet’s mysteries in greater depth.