Volcanology of Venus
The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic features and has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. There are more than 1,000 volcanic structures and possible periodic resurfacing of Venus by floods of lava. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Venus has an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, with a density that is 90 times greater than Earth's atmosphere.
Atmosphere of Venus
The mesosphere of Venus can be divided into two layers: the lower one between 62–73 km and the upper one between 73–95 km. In the first layer the temperature is nearly constant at 230 K (−43 °C). This layer coincides with the upper cloud deck. In the second layer temperature starts to decrease again reaching about 165 K (−108 °C) at the altitude of 95 km, where mesopause begins. It is the coldest part of the Venusian dayside atmosphere. In the dayside mesopause, which serves as a boundary between the mesophere and thermosphere and is located between 95–120 km, temperature increases to a constant—about 300–400 K (27–127 °C)—value prevalent in the thermosphere. In contrast, the nightside Venusian thermosphere is the coldest place on Venus with temperature as low as 100 K (−173 °C). It is even called a cryosphere.