Article
Open Access
Stabilization of Venus’ climate by a chemical-albedo feedback
Earth, Planets and Space201452:BF03351628
https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03351628
© The Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (SGEPSS); The Seismological Society of Japan; The Volcanological Society of Japan; The Geodetic Society of Japan; The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences. 2000
Received: 14 September 1998
Accepted: 10 December 1999
Published: 20 June 2014
Abstract
It has been suggested that the atmospheric concentration of SO2 observed on Venus coincides with the equilibrium concentration over pyrite-magnetite assemblage (pyrite-magnetite buffer). If the atmospheric SO2 abundance is controlled by the chemical reaction at the planetary surface, we expect coupling between the atmospheric SO2 abundance and the surface temperature. Here, we propose that the pyrite-magnetite buffer combined with cloud albedo feedback controls the surface temperature on Venus. We show that this mechanism keeps the surface temperature in a rather narrow range around the presently observed value against large variations of solar luminosity and total atmospheric mass.
