One of Al Gore’s favorite talking points is that Venus was once a warm and hospitable place covered by large oceans. Then the ‘runaway’ greenhouse effect turned it into a barren, desolate rock. And it could happen to Earth! —CCD Ed.
A new study of the Ovda Fluctus lava flow on Venus indicates that it is made of basaltic lava.
This discovery weakens the notion that Venus might once have been Earth-like with an ancient ocean of liquid water.
Previous studies suggested that early Venus was once warm and wet based on the chemistry of its atmosphere and the presence of highlands.
These highlands were thought to be formed of granitic rock, like Earth’s continents, which required oceans of water to form.
Scientists at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), including undergraduate student intern Frank Wroblewski from Northland College, find that a volcanic flow on Venus’ Ovda Regio highlands plateau is composed of basaltic lava, calling into question the idea that the planet might once have been Earth-like with an ancient ocean of liquid water.
The LPI team re-mapped the Ovda Fluctus lava flow using radar data. They discovered that the flow is not granitic as was expected from its location, but is more likely made up of basalt rock which can form with or without water.
The result has potentially significant implications for the evolutionary history of Venus. The new map and results are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
“We know so little about Venus’ surface,” says team member Dr. Allan Treiman, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI).
“If the Ovda Regio highlands are made of basaltic rock as is most of Venus, they were likely squeezed up to their current heights by internal forces, possibly like mountains which result from plate tectonics on Earth.”
Read more at Phys.org
Venus is 26 million miles closer to the sun than Earth (93 vs. 67).
Pretty sure the heat for both Venus and Earth come from the sun.
Guess what, CO2 is not what warmed Venus.
Scientifically challenged policy makers and Alarmist just don’t know what they are talking about.
Al Gores claim there was once a civilization on Venus but because they went industrial and refused to sign a Climate Change Treaty they were wiped out by Global Warming/Climate Change Dose Gore think were all as stupid as he is?
This write-up is woefully underdeveloped in content. Neither basalt nor granite have any dependency on the presence of water (oceanic or otherwise) to be present. Both rock forms solidify in subsurface conditions from magmatic fluids of varying elemental content and conditions.
That Venus is not a planetary oasis gone bad is not news at all. This has been know for a very long time.
Google this , granite formation process , water needed ..
You need water to get granite ..
I vote for Al Gore going there to provide a first hand account .
Maybe find evidence of industrial smoke stacks or empty rich guy pools .
I’ll throw this out there as a possibility. For all I know the theory is obsolete. It states with the absents of water, the rocks on Venus are much stronger than earth. They are strong enough to resist plate tectonics. That means unlike earth, there is no venting of the heat from nuclear reactions deep in the core. The planet continues to heat up and eventually the entire planet melts. The cycle is supposed to be every 500 million years. This theory was based on the fact that there are not enough impact craters for the age of the planet. Melting every 500 million years would explain this.
If Al’s lips are moving…
“One of Al Gore’s favorite talking points is that Venus was once a warm and hospitable place covered by large oceans.”
“Sorry, Al Gore, New Evidence Suggests Venus Was Never ‘Earth-Like’”
Did we really need “New Evidence” to prove Al Gore’s claim of a runaway greenhouse effect on Venus turned it into a barren, desolate rock?
ooops… meant to say “to disprove Al Gore’s claim”
Venus is closer to the sun then Earth is and therefore has always been hotter and Mercury is even more closer and hotter its the truth when your close toa heat source you will always be warming why else do people always want to get closer to a fireplace on a cold winter snowy night outside and you inside