This is an image of Venus.
Click on image for full size
NASA
The Cooling of Venus
A planet goes through cycles of history depending upon how it cools in time. The following may be the history of Venus.
- Venus formed about 4 Billion Years ago.
- at the conclusion of forming it continued to be bombarded with leftover material. (called the period of Late Heavy Bombardment). Many planets still bear the remains of this activity with the exhibition of heavy cratering on their surfaces, unless some activity happens to change the appearance.
- Venus probably came out of this state warm, and differentiated into layers. The Goldilocks phenomenon also played a role in the formation of the atmosphere.
- With further cooling, the lithosphere of Venus began to thicken, restricting the movement of plates across the surface and the recycling of the atmosphere.
- Despite the thick lithosphere, surface activity, including volcanism, may continue to this day as Venus continues to cool.
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