Venus once again surprises the scientific community: NASA-funded research has revealed that the structure of its crust contradicts previously held theories. According to new data, the planet’s geological behaviour is much more active and complex than what had been assumed for decades.
Until now, it was believed that Venus’s crust, lacking tectonic plates like Earth’s, was a solid layer that grew increasingly thicker over time. However, a recent study published in Nature Communications disproves this idea by presenting a model that posits deep metamorphic processes derived from rock density and thermal cycles.
With no plate tectonics to drive changes in Venus’ outer layer, scientists expected the crust to be very thick. New modeling shows that might not be the case. Read what surprises were revealed in a recent @NASA study: https://t.co/llm8RIeSpL pic.twitter.com/oRRgAuN5nT
— NASA Astromaterials (@Astromaterials) May 9, 2025The work, led by the team at the Johnson Space Centre, has determined that Venus’s crust has an average thickness of 40 kilometres, reaching a maximum of 65 kilometres. These figures are surprising given the planet’s high pressure and temperature. The model suggests that, as the density increases at the bottom, some of the material is shed or melted, returning to the planet’s interior.
“According to our models, as the crust grows thicker, the bottom of it becomes so dense that it either breaks off and becomes part of the mantle or gets hot enough to melt,” Justin Filiberto, deputy director of NASA’s Astromaterials Research Unit, explained in an official statement.
A new model for understanding the geology of Venus
Due to Venus’s dense atmosphere, it was long thought that it could be a gaseous planet like Jupiter or Saturn. However, Soviet probes from the Venera program were able to confirm in the 1960s that it does indeed have a solid, rocky surface.
This discovery was further supported in 1978 when NASA’s Pioneer Venus mission revealed the planet’s complete topography—data that had gone largely unquestioned until now.
Thanks to this new study, which is based on the density of materials and thermal energy, it will be possible to explain the composition of Venus’s atmosphere and the possible presence of elements such as water in deeper layers. “The discovery resets the playing field for how the geology, crust, and atmosphere on Venus work together,” Filiberto added.
To confirm these hypotheses, NASA is preparing specific missions such as DAVINCI and VERITAS, designed to study the surface and atmosphere with great precision. In addition to these, the EnVision mission, promoted in collaboration with the European Space Agency, will gather data to validate the proposed model.
“We don’t actually know how much volcanic activity is on Venus,” Filiberto acknowledged. “We assume there is a lot, and research says there should be, but we’d need more data to know for sure.” Gathering direct information about its crust will be crucial to confirming whether these internal transformation processes are ongoing.