Estimates on the Possible Annual Seismicity of Venus
There is a growing consensus that Venus is seismically active, although its level of seismicity could be very different from that of Earth due to the lack of plate tectonics. Here, we estimate upper and lower bounds on the expected annual seismicity of Venus by scaling the seismicity of the Earth. W...
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| Published in: | Journal of geophysical research. Planets Vol. 129; no. 7 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01-07-2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | There is a growing consensus that Venus is seismically active, although its level of seismicity could be very different from that of Earth due to the lack of plate tectonics. Here, we estimate upper and lower bounds on the expected annual seismicity of Venus by scaling the seismicity of the Earth. We consider different scaling factors for different tectonic settings and account for the lower seismogenic thickness of Venus. We find that 95–296 venusquakes equal to or bigger than moment magnitude (Mw) 4 per year are expected for an inactive Venus, where the global seismicity rate is assumed to be similar to that of continental intraplate seismicity on Earth. For the active Venus scenarios, we assume that the coronae, fold belts, and rifts of Venus are currently seismically active. This results in 1,161–3,609 venusquakes ≥Mw4 annually as a realistic lower bound and 5,715–17,773 venusquakes ≥Mw4 per year as a maximum upper bound for an active Venus.
Plain Language Summary
Venus could be seismically active at the moment, but it is uncertain how many earthquakes (or to use the proper term: venusquakes) there could be in a year. Here, we calculate the minimum and maximum number of venusquakes we could expect in a given year on Venus based on different assumptions. If we assume there is not much seismic activity on Venus (comparable to the interior of tectonic plates on Earth), we find that we could expect about a few hundred venusquakes per year with a magnitude bigger than or equal to 4. For an estimate of the maximum amount of venusquakes, we assume that Venus has regions with more seismic activity: the so‐called coronae, fold belts, and rifts. Depending on our assumptions, we then find that more than 17,000 venusquakes with a magnitude bigger than or equal to 4 could occur in a year.
Key Points
An inactive Venus with global background seismicity like Earth's continental intraplate seismicity has a few hundred quakes ≥Mw4 per year
A lower bound on an active Venus where fold belts, coronae, and rifts are seismically active predicts a few thousand quakes ≥Mw4 annually
The upper bound for an active Venus results in thousands (∼5,000–18,000) venusquakes ≥Mw4 per year |
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| ISSN: | 2169-9097 2169-9100 |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2023JE008048 |