Hot climate inhibits volcanism on Venus : constraints from rock deformation experiments and argon isotope geochemistry
Date
07/2017Funder
Grant ID
RG170224
Metadata
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Abstract
The disparate evolution of sibling planets Earth and Venus has left them markedly different. Venus’ hot (460 °C) surface is dry and has a hypsometry with a very low standard deviation, whereas Earth’s average temperature is 4 °C and the surface is wet and has a pronounced bimodal hypsometry. Counterintuitively, despite the hot Venusian climate, the rate of intraplate volcano formation is an order of magnitude lower than that of Earth. Here we compile and analyse rock deformation and atmospheric argon isotope data to offer an explanation for the relative contrast in volcanic flux between Earth and Venus. By collating high-temperature, high-pressure rock deformation data for basalt, we provide a failure mechanism map to assess the depth of the brittle–ductile transition (BDT). These data suggest that the Venusian BDT likely exists between 2–12 km depth (for a range of thermal gradients), in stark contrast to the BDT for Earth, which we find to be at a depth of ~25-27 km using the same method. The implications for planetary evolution are twofold. First, downflexing and sagging will result in the sinking of high-elevation structures, due to the low flexural rigidity of the predominantly ductile Venusian crust, offering an explanation for the curious coronae features on the Venusian surface. Second, magma delivery to the surface—the most efficient mechanism for which is flow along fractures (dykes; i.e., brittle deformation)—will be inhibited on Venus. Instead, we infer that magmas must stall and pond in the ductile Venusian crust. If true, a greater proportion of magmatism on Venus should result in intrusion rather than extrusion, relative to Earth. This predicted lower volcanic flux on Venus, relative to Earth, is supported by atmospheric argon isotope data: we argue here that the anomalously unradiogenic present-day atmospheric 40Ar/36Ar ratio for Venus (compared with Earth) must reflect major differences in 40Ar degassing, primarily driven by volcanism. Indeed, these argon data suggest that the volcanic flux on Venus has been three times lower than that on Earth over its 4.56 billion year history. We conclude that Venus’ hot climate inhibits volcanism.
Citation
Mikhail , S & Heap , M J 2017 , ' Hot climate inhibits volcanism on Venus : constraints from rock deformation experiments and argon isotope geochemistry ' , Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors , vol. 268 , pp. 18-34 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2017.05.007
Publication
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0031-9201Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2017.05.007
Description
M.J. Heap acknowledges funding from an Initiative d’Excellence (IDEX) “Attractivité” grant (VOLPERM), funded by the University of Strasbourg.Collections
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