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Rank the five terrestrial worlds in order of size from smallest to largest: |
Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth |
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What is differentiation in planetary geology? |
the process by which gravity separates materials according to density |
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Under what circumstances can differentiation occur in a planet? |
the planet must have a molten interior |
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The core, mantle, and crust of a planet are defined by differences in their |
composition |
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The terrestrial planet cores contain mostly metal because |
metals sank to the center during a time when the interiors were molten throughout |
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Which internal energy source is the most important in continuing to heat the terrestrial planets today? |
radioactivity |
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The three principal sources of internal heat of terrestrial planets are |
accretion, differentiation, and radioactivity |
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Heat escapes from a planet’s surface into space by thermal radiation. Planets radiate almost entirely in the wavelength range of the |
infrared |
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Which of the following best describes why the smaller terrestrial worlds have cooler interiors than the larger ones? |
they have relatively more surface area compared to their volumes |
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Why does Earth have the strongest magnetic field among the terrestrial worlds? |
it is the only one that has both a partially molten metallic core and reasonably rapid rotation |
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Which of the following most likely explains why Venus does not have a strong magnetic field? |
its rotation is too slow |
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Which two properties are most important in determining the surface temperature of a planet? |
distance from the Sun and atmosphere |
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Which of the following does not have a major effect in shaping planetary surfaces? |
magnetism |
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The relatively few craters that we see within the lunar maria |
were formed by impacts that occurred after those that formed most of the craters in the lunar highlands |
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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 |
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Volcanism is more likely on a planet that |
has high internal temperatures |
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Shallow-sloped shield volcanoes are made from lava that |
has a medium viscosity |
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Steep-sided stratovolcanoes are made from lava that |
has a high viscosity |
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Which of the following describes tectonics? |
the disruption of a planet’s surface by internal stresses |
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Which of the following describes erosion? |
the wearing down or building up of geological features by wind, water, ice, and other phenomena of planetary weather |
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Which of the following describes volcanism? |
the eruption of molten rock from a planet’s interior to its surface |
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Which of the following describes impact cratering? |
the excavation of bowl-shaped depressions by asteroids or comets striking a planet’s surface |
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How did the lunar maria form? |
large impacts fractured the Moon’s lithosphere, allowing lava to fill the impact basins |
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A planet is most likely to have tectonic activity if it has |
high internal temperature |
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The Caloris Basin on Mercury covers a large region of the planet, but few smaller craters have formed on top of it. From this we conclude that |
the Caloris Basin formed toward the end of the solar system’s period of heavy bombardment |
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Why do we think Mercury has so many tremendous cliffs? |
they were probably formed by tectonic stresses when the entire planet shrank as its core cooled |
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Which of the following show evidence of ancient river beds? |
Mars |
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What drives motion of the tectonic plates on Earth? |
convection cells in the mantle |
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Olympus Mons is a |
shield volcano on Mars |
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