VIRTIS emissivity of Alpha Regio, Venus, with implications for tessera composition

Abstract

The composition of Venus tessera terrain is unknown. The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) aboard Venus Express (VEx) collects data that yields the surface emissivity at ∼1μm, which contains information convolving a number of surface properties, including composition. We examine the variation of emissivity in the vicinity of Alpha Regio, which is the largest exposure of tessera terrain imaged by VIRTIS. We find that the emissivity of Alpha Regio tessera is lower than adjacent plains materials and the deposits and flows of Eve corona, both of which have previously been interpreted to be basaltic. The emissivity of the bulk of Alpha is also lower than its western boundary, which is interpreted to comprise plains structurally deformed to the same degree as tessera terrain. This suggests that the lower emissivity of Alpha is independent of structural elements, macroscale roughness, or local sedimentation processes, and is due to material properties like composition or grain size. The deviation of the emissivity of Alpha from that of the plains for which a bulk basaltic composition is well supported corresponds to a significant difference in rock type or surface mineral assemblage. The 1μm emissivity of Alpha is consistent with rocks with low ferrous iron content. This includes felsic igneous rocks like granitoids that form under either water-rich or water-poor conditions. A water-rich origin would require both a hydrosphere and a plate recycling mechanism and thus be limited to the lifetime of surface water on Venus. Alternatively, granitoids could form via the differentiation of basaltic melts. The production of all tessera terrain by this mechanism would require the accumulation and preservation of felsic melts from a volume of mafic magma that exceeds what is preserved in the currently observed plains. Both mechanisms of granitoid formation would require that tessera terrain be formed prior to the emplacement of the plains, consistent with their stratigraphic position. Anorthosites also satisfy the emissivity signature and can form from copious amounts of partial melting of a mafic source. Low emissivity values are also consistent with carbonates, sulfates, phyllosilicates and their dehydration products, which may have formed via weathering of basalts under conditions of higher atmospheric PH2O. All of these hypotheses suggest the mineralogy of Alpha tessera records an extinct era of Venus history and is a key target for future exploration.