Seamounts from the Central Indian Ocean Basin as a guide to the likely geochemical characteristics of small volcanoes on Venus

Our comparative morphometric analysis indicates that the overall pattern of the diameter–frequency distribution for volcanoes on Venus resembles that of terrestrial seamount datasets. This suggests that smaller volcanic structures on Venus and seamounts on Earth may share certain underlying formational factors. The processes of forming small volcanoes seem to be controlled by similar conditions such as the size of magma chamber, duration of eruption, and magma compositions, despite the fact that the terrestrial-type plate tectonics is not operating on Venus. The Venusian lavas is also comparable with geochemical characteristics terrestrial of the mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) and is attributed to their production under anhydrous condition. Future investigations into the heights, volumes, tectonic environments, related lithospheric thickness and geoid heights of both Venusian volcanoes and terrestrial seamounts could help understand the similarities and distinctions between the geological formations on the two planets. India is aiming for future Venus Orbiter missions to capture the high-resolution surface images through synthetic aperture radar. New terrestrial analogue site and its Venusian equivalents will thus, offer better insights on comparative planetology and ground truth validation of the orbiter data.