Banaras Hindu University Scientists In Global Research Team On Planet Venus

A Banaras Hindu University (BHU) team from the Department of Geology is involved in research on planet Venus through geological mapping of its surface for different magmatic units including volcanic flows and dykes; tectonic units including major rift zones; and their link with mantle plumes, a university statement said. The BHU team is also assessing the impact from volcanic activity on its climate.

The research to study the Venus surface, as per the university statement, is being conducted by International Venus Research Group which comprises teams from Canada, United States, Russia, Morocco and India. This global team of researchers is led by Dr Richard Ernst from Tomsk State University, Russia; and co-led by Dr Hafida El Bilali of Carleton University, Canada, and Dr James Head (Brown University, USA).

The BHU team is coordinated by Professor Rajesh K Srivastava and scientific guidance by Dr Ernst and Dr El Bilali. Other BHU team members as per the university statement include Dr Amiya Kumar Samal (Assistant Professor) and two PhD students Harshita Singh and Twinkle Chaddha. The university is planning an expanded student participation.

This is the only team in India that is involved in such futuristic research, the university said.

“The BHU group will help to identify magmatic/volcanic activities recorded on Venus, which is crucial as Venus is a lot like Earth in size and inner structure, but has a number of differences as well,” it added.

While the major difference, as per the BHU statement, is that there is no plate tectonic activity on Venus, atmosphere is 96 per cent Carbon Dioxide, which is 90 times denser than the Earth’s atmosphere, and the surface temperature is 450 degrees Celsius, there also exists some similarities between the two. The similarities between Earth and Venus include dyke swarms, volcanic flows, volcanoes and all these could be related to plumes as recorded from Earth as well, notably present in the Indian Shield.

“The BHU Team’s research also has relevance to the fleet of missions planned for Venus exploration in the coming decade (i.e., NASA’s VERITAS and DAVINCI, Europe’s EnVision, Russia’s Venera-D, and also India’s Shukrayaan-1). The research by BHU Team can contribute to scientific targeting for all these Venus missions and can potentially lead to direct mission involvement,” the statement added.