The interior of Venus as seen from gravity and topography data

Although Venus and the Earth are commonly called "twin planets" for their many similarities, they have been through very different evolutionary paths, as indicated by the absence of an active magnetic field and plate tectonics on Venus. Understanding the interior structure of Venus is essential to interpret why these two planets turned out so different and constrain its geodynamic evolution. Yet, the interior of the planet is essentially unknown. Our studies aim to improve the interior structure constraints for Venus, including new estimations of crustal thickness, elastic lithosphere thickness and mantle viscosity structure. To do so, we investigate Venus gravity and topography data, obtained during the Magellan mission (1990-1994), using modern analysis techniques, inversion methods and geophysical models.