Exam 3 Answers Flashcards
Which internal energy source is the most important in continuing to heat the terrestrial planets today?
Radioactivity
Which of the terrestrial worlds has the strongest magnetic field?
Earth
Which of the following has virtually no effect on the structure of a planet?
It’s magnetic field
Which of the following does not have a major effect in shaping planetary surfaces?
Magnetism
What cooling process allows energy to be lost into space?
Radiation
Which surface shaping process is an external factor?
Impact cratering
Glaciers moving across the landscape is what type of erosion?
Solid
Cooling and contraction of what planet has created huge ridges on the surface of the planet?
Mercury
Which moon has the most substantial atmosphere?
Titan
What is the most abundant gas in Titan’s atmosphere?
Nitrogen
Which of the Jovian planets have rings: Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn, or Neptune?
All of them
The motion of charged particles in a magnetic field is
Helical
What moon is larger than Mercury, the smallest planet?
Ganymede
Which of Saturn’s medium sized moons is outgassing water vapor: Mimas, Rhea, Tethys, Dione, or Enceladus?
Enceladus
Neptune looks blue because the methane clouds ________ blue light and ________ other colors.
Reflects; absorbs
What is differentiation in planetary geology?
The process by which gravity separates materials according to density.
The lithosphere of a planet is the layer that consists of
The rigid rocky material of the crust and uppermost portion of the mantle.
The terrestrial planet cores contain mostly metal because
Metals sank to the center during a time when the interiors were molten throughout.
What describes best why the smaller terrestrial worlds have cooler interiors than the larger ones?
They have relatively more surface area compared to their volumes.
Which two properties are most important in determining the surface temperature of a planet?
Distance from the Sun and atmosphere
When we see a region of a planet that is not as heavily cratered as other regions, we conclude that
The surface in the region is younger than the surface in more heavily cratered regions.
Volcanism is more likely on a planet that
Has high internal temperatures
Why does the Moon have a layer of powdery “soil” on its surface?
It’s the result of gradual erosion by micrometeorites striking the Moon.
How have we been able to construct detailed maps of surface features on Venus?
By using radar from spacecraft that were sent to orbit Venus.
How does seafloor crust differ from continental crust?
Seafloor crust is thinner, younger, and higher in density
What drives the motion of the tectonic plates on Earth?
Convection cells in the mantle
Is there water in Mars?
No. If there was, it would change straight to gas, skipping the liquid phase.
Why do Jovian planets budge around the equator, that is, have a “squashed” appearance?
Their rapid rotation flings the mass near the equator outward.
How do astronomers think Jupiter generates its internal heat?
By contracting, changing gravitational potential energy into thermal energy
Why is Jupiter denser than Saturn?
The extra mass of Jupiter compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of Saturn.
Why does Jupiter have several distinct cloud layers?
Different layers represent clouds made of gases that condense at different temperatures.
What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?
A long-lived, high pressure storm
Why do Uranus and Neptune have blue methane clouds but Jupiter and Saturn do not?
Methane does not condense into ice in the warmer atmospheric temperatures of Jupiter and Saturn.
The four Galilean moons around Jupiter are
A mixture of rock and ice
Why are there no impact craters on the surface of Io?
Io did have Impact craters but they have all been buried in lava flows.
Is the backward orbit of Triton (a moon of Neptune) due to tidal forces?
No
How were most of the large Jovian planets formed?
By condensation and accretion in a disk of gas around the planet
The core, mantle, and crust of a planet are defined by differences in their
Composition
