08-04-2014, 10:53 AM
Hmmm... It's distinctly arguable that whatever caused Venus to have such slow rotation is what doomed it to its present state. The reason is that slow rotation means no magnetic field, which means no protection from the solar wind, which means all the hydrogen (and therefore all the water) eventually being driven off. Which probably leads to no plate tectonics.
Even with no life on site, a tectonically active world will have its CO2 continuously removed from the atmosphere by weathering of newly created rocks and deposition of carbonates on the bottom of the ocean. We'll never know, but I think that it's quite likely a rapidly-spinning Venus would be much as we used to think it would look - a steaming, wet place. Maybe even a steaming wet jungle.
Even with no life on site, a tectonically active world will have its CO2 continuously removed from the atmosphere by weathering of newly created rocks and deposition of carbonates on the bottom of the ocean. We'll never know, but I think that it's quite likely a rapidly-spinning Venus would be much as we used to think it would look - a steaming, wet place. Maybe even a steaming wet jungle.