The volcanoes of the planets

The volcanoes of the planets of the solar system have always been of great interest. Modern science has abundant evidence that the volcanoes of the planets of the solar system are similar to the terrestrial in nature. Therefore, the study of volcanism in the solar system is one of the most important tasks of this kind.

The volcanoes of the planets of the solar system have always been of great interest

For a better understanding of volcanic processes, let us consider the celestial body closest to us, the Moon, the conditions of formation of which are close to the conditions for the formation of the Earth.

On the surface of our natural satellite, there are obvious traces of volcano activity, although the vast majority of lunar ring mountain craters have a meteorite origin. On the Moon volcanic basalts are widely distributed, and there are also outcrops of frozen lava. It can be assumed that the mass concentrations - "mascons", are nothing more than frozen lava plugs.

Perhaps on the lunar surface volcanoes are connected with the domes - a kind of round flat gently swelling, on top of which sometimes there is a formation resembling a volcanic caldera.

According to scientists, on the Moon volcanoes once erupted in this way. As a result of the impact of a large meteorite body, a funnel with a depth of several tens of kilometers arose. Over time, due to the elasticity of the lunar crust, the bottom of the funnel gradually straightened, and approximately 500 million years later a breakthrough occurred from a depth of about 200 km. Filling the bottom of the funnel and solidifying, the lava formed an even surface.

After the moon, you can begin to study the volcanoes of planets with Mercury, the surface of which is almost entirely covered with a huge number of craters of shock origin. At the bottom of some of them, traces of lava effusion are clearly visible.

Some scientists claim that the volcanoes of the planet Venus continue their active activity to the present day. The surface temperature of this planet is about 5000 C, which is explained, first of all, by the effect of the greenhouse effect of the Venusian atmosphere. But it is possible that a certain contribution to this temperature is made by volcanoes, and a significant amount of solid particles in the atmosphere of Venus may be associated with volcanic emissions. In addition, a large amount of carbon dioxide (97%) in the atmosphere of Venus is a characteristic feature of volcanic phenomena. And over the area marked with the Greek letter "Beta", there is a significant disturbance of the gravitational field - a phenomenon that is observed in terrestrial conditions above the regions where young volcanoes are located. It is also assumed that the numerous rays diverging in different directions from the "Beta" are the frozen streams of lava.

Extinct volcanoes of the planets of the solar system can also be searched on Mars. With the help of spacecraft, it was found that on this planet, an important role in the formation of relief played volcanoes. Some Martian craters have central slides with a dark dot on top. It is not excluded that these are extinct volcanoes, the eruptions of which occurred tens or hundreds of millions of years ago.

One of the most interesting discoveries of astronomers studying volcanoes of the planets was the discovery of 8-9 active volcanoes on the satellite of Jupiter Io. They throw dust and glowing gases to a height of up to 200 km. The source of the subsoil warm-up here, apparently, is tidal perturbations from the neighboring satellites of Jupiter in its powerful gravitational field.

Volcanoes of planets similar to the volcanoes of Titan, Saturn's satellite, are characterized by the fact that they are not flowing hot lava flows, but liquid methane and ammonia solutions.

Tools