Venus may have once had oceans of carbon dioxide

[Buster's Uncle]

Venus may have once had oceans of carbon dioxide
The Week
Kimberly Alters  2:55pm ET



NASA/JPL



Despite being known for its "hellish" conditions, the planet Venus may actually have had oceans on its surface, according to a study in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. The catch? Unlike Earth's water-filled oceans, Venus' may have consisted of a liquidlike form of carbon dioxide.

Scientists conducting research this summer found that Venus may have had enough water in its atmosphere at one point that, should all the water have fallen like rain, the entire planet could have been covered in an ocean about 80 feet deep, according to Discovery News. But because the extremely warm surface of Venus likely rendered such a mass precipitation event impossible, scientists concluded that instead of massive oceans of water, the planet may have once been home to oceans of carbon dioxide fluid.

The planet's atmosphere is 96.5 percent carbon dioxide by volume, said lead study author Dima Bolmatov, and the extreme atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus could have caused the gas to enter a "supercritical state." A supercritical fluid "can have properties of both liquids and gases," which Bolmatov said could have paved the way for oceans of liquidlike supercritical carbon dioxide on Venus.

Venus is sometimes described as "Earth's twin planet" due to their similar physical and chemical makeups, but the difference between the planets has always been their habitability. The scientists next plan to examine the shift from gaslike to liquidlike properties in supercritical carbon dioxide. Read the full study at The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.


http://theweek.com/article/index/274306/speedreads-venus-may-have-once-had-oceans-of-carbon-dioxide