Statistical comparison of Venera and Vega lander x-ray fluorescence spectrometer measurements of the composition of the Venus surface with an extensive database of compositional data for terrestrial ocean floor rocks indicates that the Venera 14 data matches certain tholeiitic basalts from the Kane Fracture Zone (KFZ) in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (22-25/sup 0/N) at high confidence levels. The tholeiites most similar to the Venera measurements are very primitive, low-calcium, high-alumina pillow basalts depleted in clinopyroxene, and are relatively unique to certain fracture zones in oceanic regions. If the Venera 14 analogy is valid, the implication is that certain Venus basaltic magmas have lost clinopyroxene at relatively high pressures by fractionation, perhaps within a deep source region. Comparisons of Venera 13 and Vega 2 data with oceanic rocks yield poorer matches. Venera 13 matches Loihi seamount alkali basalts, as well as potassic mafic rocks from oceanic island such as Tristan de Cunha. The best analogy to Vega 2 may be altered gabbros or basic lavas from terrestrial basic intrusions such as the Troodos ophiolite. The close similarity of a representative sample of Venera 14 material with distinctive ocean floor tholeiitic basalts suggests that deep magma storage regions exist on Venus, and thatmore » derivation of both tholeiitic and alkalic magmas from a single primitive parent may be an important process on Venus.« less
The geomorphic expression of Mid-Ocean-Ridge (MOR) volcanism in a subaerial setting occurs uniquely on Earth in Iceland, and the most recent MOR eruptive activity has been concentrated in the Northeastern Volcanic Zone in an area known as Krafla. Within the Krafla region are many of the key morphologic elements of MOR-related basaltic volcanism, as well as volcanic explosion craters, subglacial lava shields, tectonic fissure swarms known as gjar, and basaltic-andesite flows with well developed ogives (pressure-ridges). The objective was to quantify the degree to which the basic volcanic and structural features can be mapped from directional SAR imagery as a function of the look azimuth. To accomplish this, the current expression of volcanic and tectonic constructs was independently mapped within the Krafla region on the E, W, and N-looking SAR images, as well as from SPOT Panchromatic imagery acquired in 1987. The initial observations of the E, W, and N images indicates that fresh a'a lava surfaces are extremely radar bright (rough at 3 cm to meter scales) independent of look direction; this suggests that these flows do not have strong flow direction related structures at meter and cm scales, which is consistent with typical Icelandic a'a lava surfaces in general. The basic impression from a preliminary analysis of the effects of look azimuth biasing on interpretation of the geology of an active MOR volcanic zone is that up to 30 percent of the diagnostic features can be missed at any given look direction, but that having two orthogonal look direction images is probably sufficient to prevent gross misinterpretation.
Some ideas relating to the formation of lava flows on Venus are reviewed. The surface morphological features seen in the panoramic images made by the Venera 13 and 14 landers are examined in detail. The major element compositions measured by the Soviet probes indicate that the surface rocks at the Venera 13 site resemble a terrestrial tholeite composite whereas the Venera 14 rocks are similar to terrestrial alkali basalts. Few data exist on the rheological properties of such magma types on Earth; these properties are a strong function of magma volatile content, and there are important gaps in our knowledge of the typical volatiles to be associated with the magmas on Venus. However, the suggestion that Venusian magmas may be water poor together with consideration of the fact that the high Venusian surface temperatures may cause magmas to experience up to 50 K less cooling during their rise to the surface than corresponding terrestrial counterparts, leads to the finding that Venusian magmas may typically have plastic viscosities, E, up to a factor of three greater than terrestrial counterparts on eruption. A similar analysis of yield strength variations with temperature, magma composition and volatile content suggests that temperature will exert the main control and that Venusian magma yield strengths, Y, may be a factor of several times smaller than those of terrestrial equivalents.
