A VOLCANO ON VENUS HAS SHOWN SIGNS OF A RECENT ERUPTION

Images taken by the Magellan space probe in the 1990s could show evidence of eruptions or magma flow

- PAUL BYRNE

Volcanic eruptions and magma flows could be taking place on the surface of Venus, researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute have found. The team studied data collected by NASA's Magellan space probe in the 1990s, taking advantage of new techniques that allow them to compare digital images more efficiently. Their analysis focused on an area containing two of Venus's largest volcanoes, Ozza Mons and Maat Mons. They discovered a roughly 2.5km² volcanic vent that changed shape and altered in size over a period of eight months in 1991 on Maat Mons. On Earth, changes of this magnitude are often indications of volcanic activity.

"It is really only in the last decade or so that the Magellan data has been available at full resolution, mosaicked and easily manipulable by an investigator with a typical personal workstation," said Robert Herrick, a research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who led the research. "Ozza and Maat Mons are comparable in volume to Earth's largest volcanoes, but have lower slopes and thus are more spread out."