ETH Zurich finds evidence of active volcanoes on Venus

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ETH Zurich scientists led by Taras Gerya and first author Xi Yang published a Nature Geoscience study using a new three-dimensional, high-resolution computer model to simulate Venusian rift systems. Their simulations reproduce large trenches, some up to 10,000 kilometers long, and indicate that at least some rift faults may have formed relatively recently rather than only in the distant past. The finding challenges earlier two-dimensional models with simplified material assumptions and implies that tectonic and volcanic activity on Venus may be ongoing, prompting further observational and modeling work to reassess Venusian evolution.

Some Venus rift faults may have formed relatively recently.