Unit 5 HW 1 CBUCKLAND
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Carissa Buckland
PHYS 1404 04
UNIT 5 HW 1
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IN ADDITION TO THESE QUESTIONS, COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY “PLANETARY SURFACE FEATURES
AND MARS CLIMATE CHANGE.” (See separate file)
1.
What are some of the notable types of geological features on the Moon?
Pyroclastic flows, volcanoes, fractures, faults, chains, and landslides.
2.
What is the currently favored hypothesis for the formation of the Moon?
The Great Impact Hypothesis
3.
What is a pyroclastic flow? What are pyroclastic flows related to?
A pyroclastic flow is a dense, fast-moving flow of solidified lava pieces, volcanic ash, and
hot gases. It is related to volcanic eruptions.
4.
Which planet has the tallest volcano in the solar system? Give three reasons that this
volcano couldn’t exist on Earth at this point in history.
Mars has the tallest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. Three reasons this
volcano could not exist on Earth are:
1)
Earth’s gravitational force is too high;
2)
Plate movement within Earth’s crust;
3)
Earth’s thin crust.
5.
Describe Valles Marineris and Olympus Mons. What geological processes were
responsible for making these two features?
Valles Marineris is a massive canyon on Mars most likely caused by the cooling planet
literally splitting open at the surface, or a tectonic fracture.
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system and was caused by tectonic
plate
motion beneath the crust of Mars.
Carissa Buckland
PHYS 1404 04
6.
Describe three pieces of evidence that Mars has substantial amounts of water on it.
Splosh craters formed by solar body impacts heating the soil, melting the ice, and
flinging mud outward, permafrost layer of water ice, and Korolev Crater near the
Martian north pole.
7.
What is “metallic” about metallic hydrogen? Why is it thought that this substance must
make up a large portion of the interiors of Jupiter and Saturn?
The fact that metallic hydrogen can conduct electricity easily is what makes it “metallic.”
The massive gravitational forces of Jupiter and Saturn is the reason that it is believed
that the interiors are composed largely of metallic hydrogen.
8.
Describe the properties of Jupiter’s four largest moons. Which two are relatively free of
craters and why?
1)
Ganymede is the largest satellite in our solar system.
2)
Io is the most volcanically active object in our solar system.
3)
Europa is covered with a sheet of ice with (likely) liquid water beneath it.
4)
Callisto is an ice-covered rocky body that shows no signs of any geological
activity now or at any other time.
Io and Europa are relatively free of craters due to the thin crusts with underlying liquid
that fills in craters after impact.
9.
Name and describe the conditions on Saturn’s largest moon.
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon. Titan’s surface has slushy methane oceans/ice with an
apparent coastline visible and many chunks of ice scattered about that resemble rocks.
Titan also has a substantial atmosphere that is primarily composed of methane (CH
4
).
10. Describe a “typical” ring particle of Saturn. What is the likely origin of Saturn’s rings?
The ring particles are composed primarily of water ice, and they range from grains the
size of sand up to house-sized boulders. An insider’s view of the rings would probably
resemble a bright cloud of floating snowflakes and hailstones, with a few snowballs and
larger objects, many of them loose aggregates of smaller particles.
Saturn’s rings are likely the remains of a shattered moon or passing comet/asteroid.
Tidal forces pulled the fragments apart where they were dispersed into a disc/ring.
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