Exam 3 Flashcards
What is impact cratering?
Arterial falling from space onto a world’s surface will create impact craters.
What do more craters indicate?
The number of craters can indicate the surface’s age. More craters means an older surface and minimal geologic activity.
Define Plate tectonics
The theory that explains how slow the motions within the Earth moves large segments of the crust (outer surface) gradual “drifting” of the continents.
How can volcanism change a surface?
Volcanic eruptions can erase craters.
What do we learn by studying earthquakes?
We learn about earth’s interiors. Earthquakes produce seismic waves, which travel differently through different materials.
Which of the following layers of the earths interior is composed of liquid metal?
The outer core
Define Convection
Rising and falling of hot/cold material
Crustal plates are moved by …
convection
How many major and smaller plates does earth have?
7 major plates and 6 smaller ones
Very fluid lava forms…
Shield volcanes
Viscous lava forms
Composite volcanoes
Define Erosion
On earth, liquid water strongly eroded the surface.
The geographic North Pole is magnetic North or South?
The magnetic South Pole
How was Earth’s crust shifted over time?
The movement of plate boundaries.
Define Continental drift
The movement of the earths crust. Proved by fossils near the riff zones.
How is Earth’s atmosphere unique?
Because of convection.
Define The green house effect
Carbon dioxide content of the retains heat from the sun through a process called the greenhouse effect.
How is the greenhouse effect beneficial or harmful?
Without, earth’s ocean would be frozen.
With, the earth is 40 degrees c hotter
The principal greenhouse gases in our present atmosphere are
Water vapor and carbon dioxide
Mercury Rotation
58 earth days
Mercury orbit
88 earth days
Mercury surface
Rocky, solid, and cratered surface much like the moon.
Mercury atmosphere
A thin atmosphere
Oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium, and potassium.
Mercury temperature
800 to -290 degrees.
Mercury Magnetic field
Earth and mercury are the only terrestrial planets with a substantial magnetic field.
Mercury tilt
.04
Venus tilt
177.36
Venus rotation
243 earth days
Venus spin
Backwards
Is Venus habitable?
In its early history, Venus could have had shallow linguistic water ocean and habitable surface temperatures.
Venus surface
Volcanic with extensive plains featuring high volcanic mountains and vast ridged plate.
Venus temperature
900 degrees
Runaway greenhouse effect
Venus habitable?
No. Unless you like acid rain and melting lead temperatures.
Earth tilt
23.5
Order of the atmosphere
Troposphere H20 clouds Stratosphere Ozone Mesosphere Thermosphere
Ionosphere
Many of the atoms are ionized by the loss of an electron, and this region is often called the ionosphere.
