Underneath Venus’ acid clouds and crushing atmospheric pressure lies a rocky surface studded with geological mysteries.
Sometimes called Earth’s “sister planet” because it’s a similar size with a similar iron core, molten mantle and rocky crust, there’s evidence that Venus was once a watery world like ours, and maybe even had life (or maybe not). But now it’s a 900-degree Fahrenheit hellscape in an atmosphere choked by carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid.
Scientists are really curious how it got that way, and whether it has anything to do with the fact that the volcanic plains covering most of the surface are relatively unblemished by impact craters, as if they were laid down only a few hundred million years ago. And since volcanoes are typically connected to tectonic activity, scientists are pretty keen on figuring out how the latter worked on Venus — or perhaps still works.
