Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Overview
- Prologue
- A note on scientific units
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Views of Venus, from the beginning to the present day
- Part II The motivation to continue the quest
- Chapter 9 Origin and evolution
- Chapter 10 Atmosphere and ocean
- Chapter 11 A volcanic world
- Chapter 12 The mysterious clouds
- Chapter 13 Superwinds and polar vortices
- Chapter 14 The climate on Venus, past, present and future
- Chapter 15 Could there be life on Venus?
- Part III Plans and visions for the future
- Epilogue
- References and acknowledgements
- Appendix A Chronology of space missions to Venus
- Appendix B Data about Venus
- Index
- Plate section
Chapter 11 - A volcanic world
from Part II - The motivation to continue the quest
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Overview
- Prologue
- A note on scientific units
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Views of Venus, from the beginning to the present day
- Part II The motivation to continue the quest
- Chapter 9 Origin and evolution
- Chapter 10 Atmosphere and ocean
- Chapter 11 A volcanic world
- Chapter 12 The mysterious clouds
- Chapter 13 Superwinds and polar vortices
- Chapter 14 The climate on Venus, past, present and future
- Chapter 15 Could there be life on Venus?
- Part III Plans and visions for the future
- Epilogue
- References and acknowledgements
- Appendix A Chronology of space missions to Venus
- Appendix B Data about Venus
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
The key to any discussion of the past and future state of the climate on Venus is an understanding of the production and loss processes for atmospheric gases, from the interior, at the surface, and at the top of the atmosphere where it merges into space. The balance between all of these determines the total mass of the atmosphere, and hence the surface pressure. This, in turn, is the principal factor controlling the temperature and hence the habitability and other characteristics of the surface environment.
At the heart of the problem is an almost complete lack of understanding of the various factors, summarised in Figure 11.1, related to volcanic activity on Venus. Volcanic emissions not only contribute to the mass and composition of the atmosphere, they also fuel cloud formation as part of a complicated cycle of atmospheric and surface chemistry involving various sulphur compounds. The surface itself is mainly of volcanic origin, although this leaves plenty of scope for puzzling about its composition and its capacity for absorbing, as well as emitting, atmospheric gases. The crust is dry and thin but evidently supports some huge volcanic mountains despite apparently being too weak to do so without convective upwelling which, if present, should also drive plate tectonics, although the observational evidence for the latter is elusive.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Scientific Exploration of Venus , pp. 156 - 181Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014