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Astronomy > Terrestial Planets > Flashcards

Terrestial Planets Flashcards

1
Q

Name the terrestrial planets

A

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

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2
Q

Where are terrestrial planets located?

A

0.4-1.52AU

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3
Q

What are typical density of terrestrial planet?

A

~5000kg/m^3

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4
Q

How did the moon form?

A

Thought to be result of massive collision as the planets were forming

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5
Q

How do we know how moon formed?

A

•too big for earth to capture
•tidally locked
•composed of material similar to earths mantle and lithosphere
•small core
•age of surface rocks similar to age of solar system

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6
Q

Impact Cratering

A

Form when an asteroid or comet hits the surface of a planet
•crater generally 10 times as wide as the object and has depth similar to object size

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7
Q

Which terrestrial planet has been subject to most crater bombardment?

A

All the same

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8
Q

Why was crater bombardement heavier in early solar system?

A

Still a lot of debris left over from the Proto-planetary disk

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9
Q

What is the core?

A

Densest material-metals such as nickel and iron

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10
Q

What is the mantle?

A

Rocky material of modest density-minerals containing for example silicon and oxygen

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11
Q

What is the crust?

A

Lowest density rocks-e.g., granite, basalt

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12
Q

What is the lithosphere?

A

Outer shell of most solid rock

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13
Q

What are the two types of earthquakes?

A

•P waves-longitudinal
•S waves-transverse

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14
Q

What waves are stopped by molten outer core?

A

P Waves (S waves can only travel in solids)

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15
Q

What allows us to develop a model of earths interior?

A

Analysis of seismic waves

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16
Q

How do we know interior structure of other planets?

A

Detailed mass and shape measurements

17
Q

What are the 3 internal heat sources?

A

Heat of accretion, heat from differentiation, heat from radioactivity

18
Q

What is heat of accretion?

A

Accreting planetesimals release gravitational potential energy

19
Q

What is heat from differentiation?

A

As dense material sinks it also releases gravitational potential energy

20
Q

What is heat from radioactivity?

A

Rocks and metals contain radioactive isotopes that release energy when they decay

21
Q

How do planets cool?

A

Planets lose internal heat by transporting the energy to the surface and radiating it away: convection, conduction, radiation

22
Q

When does volcanism occur?

A

When underground molten rock finds its way through the lithosphere to the surface

23
Q

What are the different volcanoes?

A

•Plains like in moon formed by runniest lava flattening out
•shield volcanoes formed by thicker lava (Hawaii/mars)
•strato-volcanoes formed by thickest lava(earth)

24
Q

What is tectonics?

A

Any surface reshaping process
•stretching or compression of the lithosphere

25
Q

What is erosion?

A

•breakdown of rock through action of ice,liquid, or gas

26
Q

How are craters erased?

A

•formed by bombardement but can be erased by activities such as volcanism, tectonics, and erosion( driven by internal heat)

27
Q

Describe the lunar Maria?

A

•smooth
•formed by a flood of lava
•Maria lava heated by radioactive decay in first few hundred mill years after formation

28
Q

What does lack of craters in Maria imply?

A

Early heavy bombardment and very few impacts afterwards

29
Q

Describe Mercurys surface

A

•heavily cratered, some lava plains
•Some very high cliffs( contraction of core and mantle,deforming crust)
•Caloris Basin (crater half of radius)

30
Q

Describe Venus’s surface

A

•many lava plains and volcanoes, contorted crust
•no erosion evident as no wind
•crater count suggests surface age of 750 million yrs

31
Q

Why is earths lithosphere broken into different plates?

A

Forces of underlying mantle convection

32
Q

Why does Venus have no plates?

A

•thicker and stronger lithosphere
•could be because water evaporated faster on Venus than on earth

33
Q

Describe Mars’s surface

A

•southern hemisphere more heavily cratered than the north( southern surface older)
•geological activity has erased craters in north
•north lower elevation
•large impact basin in south

34
Q

How high is Olympus mons?

A

26km

35
Q

Why is Olympus mons volcano bigger than earths?

A

Moving tectonics on earth cause volcano hotspots to move

36
Q

Describe water on Mars

A

•mainly in the form of polar ice, up to a metre thick
•ancient water flow:sedimentation
•recent water flows:•gullies and craters and liquid water unstable
•radar reveals liquid water lakes under ice caps

Astronomy (23 decks)

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