Chapter 8 Adaptive Quiz Flashcards
The process by which gasses trapped in rocks below the surface are released into Mercury’s thin atmosphere is known as _____.
Outgassing
A small planet or satellite would be expected to have all of these characteristics EXCEPT:
a large iron core
Which of these would be a likely result if Mercury exhibited synchronous rotation rather than the 3-to-2 spin orbit coupling that it currently has?
The temperature difference between day and night would be greater.
Which of these is NOT a reason that astronomers know the scarps on Mercury formed some time later in the history of the planet?
Astronomers have been able to use radiometric dating on rocks collected near the scarps to determine their age.
Which of these would NOT be likely to happen if Mercury had a mass closer to that of Earth’s?
Mercury would no longer exhibit its 3-to-2 spin-orbit coupling.
The highest temperature on Mercury is 700 K, which is 50 K less than the highest temperature on Venus. How, then, can Mercury experience the greatest temperature range in the solar system? Which of these does NOT contribute to this great range of temperature?
The ice near the poles contributes to the very cold night temperature.
The surface of Venus consists primarily of:
rolling plains and low hills with two major, continent-size highland regions.
A group of colleagues claim they saw Venus rising in the east as the brightest object in the sky just as the Sunset. They are wrong because:
Venus never rises at sunset.
Suppose Venus had no greenhouse effect. The amount of infrared energy radiated by Venus toward space would be:
the same as is the case now.
If one compares Venus’s atmosphere to that of Earth, one finds that the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus decreases smoothly with increasing altitude all the way from the surface (hottest) to the outermost parts of the atmosphere (coolest), whereas the temperature in Earth’s atmosphere at first decreases, then increases, then decreases again, with increasing altitude. What is a reasonable interpretation of these observations?
Venus has essentially no ozone in its atmosphere.
The yellowish color of Venus’s permanent cloud cover is due to the presence of _____ in the atmosphere.
sulfur
If the altitude of the clouds on Venus were compared to clouds on Earth, Venus’s clouds would reside mainly in the equivalent of Earth’s layer of atmosphere called the _____.
stratosphere
How long ago do astronomers believe that Mars tectonic plate activity stopped?
4 billions years ago
Which of these features are NOT something that observers have claimed to have seen on the surface of Mars over the years that have led to wild speculations about alien civilizations living there?
regular city block—like structures
Astronomers have many reasons to believe the northern hemisphere of Mars has experienced more geologic activity than the southern hemisphere. Which of these is NOT one of those reasons?
The Martian magnetic field is oriented north to south, opposite Earth’s magnetic field.
