Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.01879 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Table of Contents:
- Venus's climatic history provides powerful constraint on the location of the inner-edge of the liquid-water habitable zone. However, two very different histories of water on Venus have been proposed: one where Venus had a temperate climate for billions of years, with surface liquid water, and the other where a hot early Venus was never able to condense surface liquid water. Here we offer a novel constraint on Venus's climate history by inferring the water content of its interior. By calculating the present rate of atmospheric destruction of H$_2$O, CO$_2$ and OCS, which must be restored by volcanism to maintain atmospheric stability, we show Venus's interior is dry. Venusian volcanic gases have at most a 6% water mole fraction, substantially drier than terrestrial magmas degassed at similar conditions. The dry interior is consistent with Venus ending its magma ocean epoch desiccated and thereafter having had a long-lived dry surface. Volcanic resupply to Venus's atmosphere therefore indicates that the planet has never been `liquid-water' habitable.