Earth-Like Models of the Internal Structure of Venus

Abstract—

Based on the PREM Earth model, more than a thousand models of the internal structure of Venus have been built, differing in the radius and density of the core, the density of the mantle, the viscosity distribution and rheology. The core radius varies from 2800 to 3600 km, and the density in the mantle and core varies within a few percent of the PREM model values. When calculating tidal Love numbers, Andrade rheology is used to take into account the inelasticity of the mantle. Specifically the values of the Andrade rheological model parameters that best describe the tidal deformation of the Earth are used. This significantly reduces the error when calculating Love numbers. It has been shown that Venus can have an internal solid core only if the composition of the planet is very different from that of Earth. Comparison of the observed values of the moment of inertia and tidal Love number k₂ with model values allowed us to conclude that the radius of the core of Venus is with a high probability in the range of 3288 ± 167 km.