Quiz 7 Practice

Question 1

albedo

Answer 1

when objects such as clouds have high reflective properties

Question 2

lander/orbiter, fly-by

Answer 2

Lander spacecrafts enter the atmosphere of a planet or moon and make contact with the surface. Orbiter’s maintain the orbit of the orbit and take photos without touching the ground. Fly-bys are further away than orbiters.

Question 3

troposphere

Answer 3

the lowest region of the atmosphere, extending from the surface

Question 4

Venera mission

Answer 4

Soviet Union Programs (16 in total) between 1961 to 1984; A mix of orbiters, landers, and ONE fly-by

(1) First image of another planet’s surface
(2) CO2% is 95%
(3) First successful surface landing
(4) First close up images of Venus’ surface

Question 5

Magellan mission

Answer 5

1990-1994
(1) Mapped 98% of Venus’ surface

Question 6

Greenhouse gases

Answer 6

Gases that trap and re-radiate heat from the Sun in all directions (CO2, H20, CH4)

Question 7

Density

Answer 7

mass/volume

Question 8

Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core

Answer 8

crust is lightest and solid, mantle is second lightest mostly solid; outer core is liquid and a hot layer of iron and sulfur; inner core is solid and hot layer of iron

Question 9

Pangea

Answer 9

Crust: outermost rocky shell
Mantle: largest layer and mostly solid; Outer-core: liquid hot
Inner core: solid and iron

Question 10

Divering, converging, transform plates

Answer 10

diverging plates move apart and cause extreme elevation changes; volcanism and hot spots
converging plates occur when one plates moves underneath the other; forms mountains and causes earthquakes and volcanos
transform plates slides past each other; cause earthquakes

Question 11

Hot plates

Answer 11

areas where magma and heat can reach the surface; can be caused by diverging plates or breaks within in the crust

Question 12

Polar Ice caps

Answer 12

seasonal (composed of CO2) and permanent ice caps (composed of CO2 ice and water ice); Northern and Southern polar ice caps are different (Northern ice caps are terraced which indicates multiple geological periods of ice formation)

Question 13

Valles Marineris

Answer 13

huge canyon on Mars; spans 1/5 the surface
formed during planet formation and then widened due to erosion; 2500 miles long and 4 miles deep

Question 14

Olympus mons

Answer 14

largest volcano in Solar System; has a 4 mile drop off; evidence for no tectonic plate movement

Question 15

Hellas Basin

Answer 15

enormous old impact crater in Mars’ southern hemisphere; evidence for erosion via volcanism, water, and water

Question 16

Northern Highlands/Southern Lowlands

Answer 16

Northern Highlands is younger and deeper than southern hemisphere surface

Question 17

How do radar signals work? What do they “see?”

Answer 17

Radars are sent from Earth to the planetary or object’s surface, which are reflected and information is sent back to Earth

Question 18

What is the runaway greenhouse effect?

Answer 18

occurs when greenhouse gases continuously increase in the atmosphere which creates a perpetual cycle of increased heat and increased greenhouse gases; rain and oceans can no longer effectively reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere

Question 19

What are some unique features of Venus?

Answer 19

(a) thick permanent cloud cover with high albedo; the surface is not visible through clouds
(b) very little tilt
(c) one Venus “day” is about 243 Earth days
(d) rotates “backwards” because of its 177 tilt (basically upside down)

Question 20

What two pieces of evidence do we have for Mars’ tilt?

Answer 20

Growing and shrinking polar ice caps indicate seasons on Mars

Question 21

What evidence do we have for Mars’ past and present geologic activity?

Answer 21

Valles Marineris (BEFORE AND AFTER), Olympus Mons (BEFORE AND AFTER), Hellas Basin, Northern Lowlands and Southern Highlands (geologic activity AFTER heavy bombardment)