Venus is known as the Earth's twin, but a better name might be Earth's "evil twin" planet. Although Venus has a similar size and mass to Earth, it has a dramatically different surface and atmosphere. And one of the biggest differences is that fact that Earth has plate tectonics, and Venus doesn't. New research indicates [...]

More...

No!!!! I disagree, the biggest difference is the earth has a large moon, that affects the circulation of the atmosphere, and the barycenter of the Earth Moon system is about a third of the way in toward the center of mass of the Earth. The ocean, atmospheric and mantle circulation runs on the tidal energy imparted into the Earth as the center of mass is continually displaced toward the Lunar side, and moved North and South on a 27.32 day period. If the Earth did not have a sizable moon then the strictly thermal wrap around circulation of the atmosphere would be the same as Venus.

But there are these huge swings in the Jet streams, Rossby waves, with regular periods, that are driven by the declinational movement of the moon. Circulation at depth in the mantle, is continually stirred, by the daily grind of the compressional waves of the tidal effects, and with the shifting of the ground tides North and South in a spiraling fashion, by the declinational tides, the seams / cracks and fissures along the mid ocean ridges, can never heal as the daily bulge works it way up and down the seam, and cracks open a slight split in the location it pushes up on, like a cut healing on the outside of a Knuckle. Every time you bend your finger it cracks open and makes more scab, until it is wider at the front than the sides.

It is these pressure pulses as the escaping magma freezes in the open crack, and exerts compressional pressure laterally when the bulge that opened the crack slightly moves on. There is thus generated a push from these continuously, generated little wedges in the ridge itself, that assists the pull of the dropping of the slab into the trenches on the other side of the belt.

To ignore the obvious Moon difference is not something I would expect in this forum.

To think that the mantle circulation is only heat driven, is as asinine as thinking the weather is only heat driven. Just watch as the cyclones follow the Moon like the sheeple do the government. The moon was at Maximum South lunar declination as the warm moisture laden air mass (atmospheric tidal bulge) gathered itself in the Southern Indian Ocean in the last week of April 2008, and followed it North into Myanmar (Burma) as the moon crossed the equator headed North, on the 2nd of May 2008.

Thousands of people living on low lying lands are now dead, disease and famine will get more before they recover, from this "unpredictable event" that happens as regular as clockwork.

Venus has none of these tidal effects, and none of this type of weather. The abhorrence of the word astrology, has stopped some intelligent people from really looking at what is going on in the Earth's dynamic interactions with the Moon.

It appears that Rice University is not immune to this bias either.

There is still a lot to be worked out in quite a few of the complex structures of plate tectonics and the added information is certainly appreciated.

It is a learning curve for a field that complex and your knowledge shared may inspire future generations to take up the challenge of learning more about what drives and impacts on this most delicate planet.

I hope your words inspire. Just a question Richard Holle would the presence of known liquids other than water, say oil have any significant role in plate movement. As an additional where there are crystalline features such as salt domes that are already non contiguous in structure would these have a dampening effect on the micro cracking that assists plate movement or would it also tend to act as an additional driving formation?

Move able liquids, and compressible strata, it seems would dampen the effects, locally, I cannot say without looking at pertinent data, but in reference to the mid oceanic ridges, which is mostly new basaltic crust, where most of the wedging effects, I mentioned occur, I know or neither salt domes, nor oil deposits.

Why would warming the crust make the mantle more viscous? Seems to me that warmer would be less viscous.

A few degrees difference in the temp of the crust is going to change the mechanics of the mantle where temps are many thousands of degrees????

Ah..... OK.....

When it comes to heating effects there is generation of heat as in the fusion reaction in the sun. There is emission where a body is able to radiate an excess of heat. There is heat absorption from radiated heat. Then there is heat transfer which is always a cooling effect.

For a body unable to generate or not hot enough to emit heat a transfer is from warm to cooler zone. If it is like a line of cars on a busy road a slight slow down up front can cause a severe blockage further back.

If that same principle applies to heat then just a small blockage like a warmer atmospheric blanket needs some creative calculating. If I recall correctly in the deepest diamond mines the temperature can get quite severe at 10 km down. While in the shallower (much shallower) mines in Kalgoorlie the presence of moisture or very good tourist air conditioning kept the mine far more comfortable than the surface temperature.