¹Robert B. Reid,¹Molly C. McCanta,²Justin Filiberto,³Allan H. Treiman,²Lindsay Keller,⁴Malcolm Rutherford
Journal of Geophysical Resarch (Planets) (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JE008485]
¹Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
²NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
³Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX, USA
⁴Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Venus’ surface and interior dynamics remain largely unconstrained, due in great part to the major obstacles to exploration imposed by its 470°C, 90 bar surface conditions and its thick, opaque atmosphere. Flyby and orbiter-based thermal emission data provide opportunities to characterize the surface composition of Venus. However, robust interpretations of such data depend on understanding interactions between the planet’s surface basaltic rocks and its caustic carbon dioxide (CO2)-dominant atmosphere, containing trace amounts of sulfur dioxide (SO2). Several studies, using remote sensing, thermodynamic modeling, and laboratory experiments, have placed constraints on basaltic alteration mineralogy and rates. However, constraints on the effects of SO2-bearing reactions on basalts with diverse compositions remain incomplete. Here, we present new data from a series of gas-solid reaction experiments, in which samples of two basalt compositions were reacted in an SO2-bearing CO2 atmosphere, at relevant Venus temperatures, pressure, and oxygen fugacity. Reacted specimens were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy using sample cross-sections produced with focused ion beam milling. Surface alteration products were characterized, and their abundances estimated; subsurface cation concentrations were mapped to show the depth of alteration. We demonstrate that the initial development of reaction products progresses rapidly over the course of 30-day runs. Alkaline basalt samples are coated by Na-sulfate (likely thenardite, Na2SO4) and amorphous calcium carbonate (CaCO3) alteration products, and tholeiitic basalt samples are primarily covered by anhydrite (CaSO4), Fe-oxide (FexOy: likely magnetite, Fe3O4), and other minor phases. These mineralogies differ from previous experiments in CO2-only atmospheres.