7/30/2021 APOD Assignment

By Athena Yuan (z5258830)

STYLE: Poem
FOCUS: Volcanoes on Venus
IMAGE: Figure 1 (below)

Note: In-text references in italics and brackets

are not intended to be part of the poem’s
rhythm or rhyme. Please keep this in mind
while reading. Thank you and enjoy!
Athena Yuan z5258830

Volcanoes on Venus

Figure 1. A Venusian volcano suspected of being active. (NASA 2020).

Volcanoes seem to lie dormant, disguised in an ordinary air,

A vent for the Earth to breathe, and for humans to be aware,
Volcanic gases and molten rock eject here from below the ground,
From carbon dioxide to hydrogen sulfide, it’s deadly all around,
The molten rock called magma, becomes lava upon the surface, (Wei-Haas 2018)
A fluid, dynamic substance that creates new landforms as a purpose,
Igneous describes this molten rock once it’s in a solid state,
Examples include basalt or rhyolite, and many more await, (USGS 2017)
We’ve seen volcanoes on our Earth and know of their existence,
But let me point you to another planet not far into the distance,
Our twin planet Venus, similar in size, density and composition,
Also contains volcanoes, as we know from the Magellan expedition,
This poem explores Figure 1 (NASA 2020) so join this scientific quest,
Volcanoes on Venus, how we found them and what discoveries might suggest,
Where do they form? How do they work? These questions will all be asked,
Dear reader, let’s continue to explore this world so vast.

On Earth we begin our search on why do volcanoes form?

It happens when internally, our planet becomes less warm,
Pressure and heat build up below ground looking to escape, (British Geological Survey 2021)
And often find some gaps within our Earth’s tectonic plates,
These are large rocky slabs interacting below,
Figure number 2 (NASA, 2020) depicts this where it shows –
When plates diverge, they move apart to leave a pathway placed,
It is here hot magma rises and volcanoes can be based,
Now convergent plates they meet, and one plate ends up below,
This process is subduction, and from here volcanoes grow,
And finally, there’s hotspots, formed from magma superheated,
When these mantle plumes melt the crust, volcanoes can be seated, (British Geological Survey 2021)
From tectonic plates to hotspots, volcanoes are formed like this,
The question now is Venus and do volcanoes there exist?
Let us seek the knowledge of Venus’s condition,
The next step to our own discovery is an expedition,

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Athena Yuan z5258830

Figure 2. Volcanoes on Earth from the three ways that magma rises; hotspots, divergent
plates and subduction. (NASA 2020)

The Magellan spacecraft took off in nineteen eighty-nine,

On Venus it arrived with a mission assigned,
Through orbiting the planet over another four years,
It made the first global map of how the surface appears, (NASA 2019)
Synthetic Aperture Radar was the technology employed,
It used radar microwaves that were transmitted and deployed,
Millions of these pulses were sent downwards to the ground,
The antenna recollected them when these pulses were rebound,
Around ninety-four was the year of the mission’s conclusion,
Ninety eight percent of Venus mapped with resolution, (NASA JPL 2021)
Magellan plunged to the surface in one final operation,
Looking at the atmosphere to make a last observation,
The Magellan spacecraft was a deep space mission,
And was highly successful with knowledge acquisition,
There were many things about Venus that Magellan ascertained,
Without which we never would have known or been able to explain,

The next question now becomes: What data did we find?

Try to visualise Figure 1 (NASA 2020) within your mind,
Imagine a mosaic of vast lava plains stretching across the land,
Then add in fields of lava domes, flattened but still grand,
A hundred times as large compared to those present on Earth,
But much shorter in terms of height, with a much wider girth,
These were named pancake domes in accordance with their figure,
Enormous shield volcanoes looked alike but were much bigger, (King 2017)
Not in width but in height, they towered where they rested,
And from these observations, some things could be suggested,
Like how Venus is a mostly volcanic domain, (King 2017)
From tectonic plates to lava channels crossing the terrain,
And shown in Figure 3 (NASA 2004), you can see the surface described before,
There’s plenty more to understand and also to explore,
So how can we tell if these volcanoes are dormant or active?
There’s no way for us to test if they can be reactive,

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Athena Yuan z5258830

Figure 3. A computer-generated view of Venus’s surface using Magellan synthetic aperture

radar data shows lava flows in the foreground, and the volcano Maat Mons in the
background (NASA 2004).

But cast your eyes upon a study that was recently conducted, (Gülcher et al. 2020)
It verified the data from simulations it constructed,
Researchers from Switzerland and America joined forces,
To analyse volcanoes using reputable sources,
Numerical calculations were used to model the formation,
Of coronae, a ring-shaped structure from our Venus observations, (Fox 2020)
From there they looked at Earth and simulations were enacted,
Recording any features unique to those that reacted,
In comparing Earth to Venus, they could draw a new determination,
The similarities between the two gave us an indication,
Volcanoes on Venus were active within the last few million years, (Anderson 2020)
Suggesting recent activity and not dormancy as it appears,
This newfound knowledge teaches us about planets internally,
And how they evolve over time or change externally,
From here we have new questions asked and new theories will made,
Dear reader, what do you think of everything that has been portrayed?

We explored volcanoes on Earth and the features that they held,

Formed from tectonic plates meeting or from hotspot magma expelled,
A close up of Venus was given from the Magellan space mission,
We mapped out the surface through pulse reception and transmission,
Volcanoes on Venus and the evidence that remained,
Led to newfound understandings and things that could be explained,
A study confirmed those volcanoes had active characteristics,
This was done through simulations and calculations of statistics,
It was a major find that gave insight to planets like our own,
Our inquisitions now continue to the queries unknown,
The world is vast and far more awaits beyond the starry sky,
Let’s advance our understandings and continue to ask why,
It’s incredible how scientists can explore the world from home,
To make discoveries like this and uncover the unknown,
It is here that we approach the end of our own travels,
From Venus to volcanoes and all that we unravelled.

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Athena Yuan z5258830

Reference list

Anderson, PS 2020, Wow! More evidence for active volcanoes on Venus | Space | EarthSky,
earthsky.org, accessed 15 July 2021, <https://earthsky.org/space/evidence-active-
volcanoes-venus-olivine/>.

British Geological Survey 2021, How volcanoes form, British Geological Survey, accessed
16 July 2021, <https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/earth-
hazards/volcanoes/how-volcanoes-form-2/>.

Fox, A 2020, Researchers Discover What May Be 37 Active Volcanoes on Venus,

Smithsonian Magazine, accessed 21 July 2021,
<https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discover-what-may-be-
37-active-volcanoes-venus-180975382/>.

Gülcher, AJP, Gerya, TV, Montési, LGJ & Munch, J 2020, ‘Corona structures driven by
plume–lithosphere interactions and evidence for ongoing plume activity on Venus’,
Nature Geoscience, vol. 13, no. 8, pp. 547–554.

King, HM 2017, Volcanoes on Venus | Giant Shields and Extensive Lava Flows,
Geology.com, accessed 18 July 2021, <https://geology.com/stories/13/venus-
volcanoes/>.

NASA 2004, Venus, digital image, NASA, accessed 29 July 2021,

<https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/480/venus-3d-perspective-view-of-maat-
mons/>.

NASA 2019, In Depth | Magellan – NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA Solar System
Exploration, accessed 19 July 2021,
<https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/magellan/in-depth/>.

NASA 2020, Evidence of an Active Volcano on Venus, digital image, NASA, accessed 1
July 2021, <https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200114.html>.

NASA 2021, Volcanoes on Earth form from rising magma. Magma rises in three different
ways., digital image, NASA, accessed 28 July 2021,
<https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/volcanoes2/en/>.

NASA JPL 2021, Magellan - Venus Mission - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), accessed 20 July 2021,
<https://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/magellan/fact.html>.

USGS 2017, What are igneous rocks?, Usgs.gov, accessed 12 July 2021,
<https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-igneous-rocks?qt-
news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products>.

Wei-Haas, M 2018, Volcanoes, explained, Environment, accessed 15 July 2021,

<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/volcanoes>.