The observations acquired from space and Soviet landers strongly suggest that Venus' crust is primarily basaltic (akin to Earth's oceanic crust). Yet, some of the most intriguing features of Venus are its crustal plateaus, characterized by heavily deformed terrains, which cover about 7% of its surface and have long been suggested to bear a superficial resemblance to Earth's continental crust and mountain ranges.

On Earth, melting of the mantle overlying subduction zones (in the presence of hydrous fluids) followed by fractional crystallization is believed to be the primary mechanism generating the large volumes of intermediate to felsic rocks (rich in SiO2) that make up the continental crust (e.g., granites). The possibility that Venus' highland plateaus are dominated by intermediate to felsic rocks will be reevaluated by the EnVision and Veritas missions, in the hope of providing evidence for the presence of water oceans and, therefore, habitable conditions in Venus' distant past.

The speaker will discuss alternative igneous processes that could have produced intermediate to felsic rocks on Venus and the "geologic observations" that would be needed to suggest that more hospitable conditions prevailed on early Venus.

  • Keynote by Max Collinet (UNIVERSEH - UNamur)
  • Panel: TBA
  • Moderator: Anne-Sophie Libert (UNamur)
  • Keynote in English

Contact: UNIVERSEH - universeh@unamur.be

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