Most of Venus' History Is Missing?  Venus’ tortured surface begs
for explanation, but scientists have a trying time
reconstructing the planet’s past based on its mysterious
features. Secular geologists anticipate that additional
measurements may help resolve the vexing Venusian riddles, but
satisfying answers may never come without something more
substantial than just new data.  In size, Venus is the closest
planet to Earth in the solar system. Volcanoes and rifts cover
it, indicating a violent past. When and how did this violence
occur?  The answer to these questions is complicated by the fact
that Venus does not appear to have tectonic plates like Earth’s
shifting crustal system.  Publishing in the January 2014 issue
of Geology, Brown University geologist James Head listed some of
Venus’ mysteries, and he suggested more data would help solve
them.1  First on the list, the average conventional age of
Venus’ surface rocks is less than 20 percent of the planet’s
supposed overall age. In other words, its surfac