Volcanoes Could Still Be Erupting on Venus, Space Researchers Say

Volcanoes may still be erupting on the surface of Venus, a study suggests.

Researchers estimated that a sampling of volcanic cones and associated lava flows appeared an average of about 70 million years ago. Some may have shown up within the past 50 million years or so, said researcher Maribeth Price.

So the volcanoes must have erupted well after an apparent surge of volcanic activity some 300 million to 500 million years ago that virtually resurfaced the planet with lava, she and a colleague wrote in the December issue of the journal Nature.

If volcanoes were still erupting long after that huge surge was over, there’s no reason to believe they have stopped since, Price said.

The researchers estimated the ages of the volcanoes and lava by calculating the density of asteroid-impact craters on their surfaces and comparing the result to crater densities on the plains crated by the global resurfacing.

The idea is that the younger the surface, the less time it has been exposed to asteroids, and so the fewer craters it will have.