Authors:

Stephen A Anderson

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About Paper:

Geochemical information regarding Venus is limited and comes mostly from the Russian Venera 13, 14, and Vega 2 missions that landed between 1982 and 1985. These probes collected elemental information from the surface that suggests the bulk composition of Venus is similar to that of Earth. While the surface geology of Venus has been mapped, the interior of the planet is less constrained. For rocky planets, the mineralogy of the crust and mantle influence the evolution of both the surface and interior, which is important for studies of volcanism, plate tectonics, and habitability. This study uses Venera and Vega composition data and the Gibbs free energy minimization program Perple_X to model the mineralogy and density structure of Venus's mantle. Our theoretical models reveal the influence of pressure, temperature, and starting composition on the resulting mantle structure. Current estimates of Venus mantle composition span a large range in MgO:SiO2 and trace element (e.g., Na2O) abundances that lead to significantly different mineralogy. The interior thermal gradient of Venus is similarly unconstrained and was found to have important implications for the crust-mantle boundary, phase stability, and presence of melt. These model results will be verified experimentally using a multi-anvil press to better understand the mineralogical composition and density of Venus's mantle. Given the uncertainty and limited geological information from Venus, this study will also determine the most relevant data future missions, such as NASA's DAVINCI and VERITAS or ESA's EnVision, could collect in order to improve models for the interior of Venus. Keywords: [no keywords provided]

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

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Co-authors:

Stephen A Anderson