Additional Questions

Question 1

Mercury has strange features on it’s surface called Scarps. Why do we see these features on the surface of Mercury and not on the surface of the Moon?

Answer 1

Mercury has a massive iron core, the Moon does not.

Question 2

Large worlds are geologically active longer than smaller worlds because they have more radioactive fuel and they…?

Answer 2

loose heat at a slower rate

Question 3

Olympus Mons is the latgest volcano (by far) in the Solar System. What is the limiting factor in how high you can build Olympus Mons (or any other volcano for that matter)?

Answer 3

Gravity

Question 4

Mauna Kea on the big island of Hawaii and Olympus Mons on Mars are both

Answer 4

Shield Volcanoes

Question 5

In lecture you were presented with a considerable amount of evidence suggesting that liquid water existed on the surface of Mars in the past. Why can’t liquid water exist on the surface of Mars today?

Answer 5

The atmosphere is too thin (pressure is too low).

Question 6

We learned something important when comparing the chemical analysis of the soil at the Viking lander sites to the soil at the Pathfinder site. What was it?

Answer 6

The soil is the same composition everywhere.

Question 7

Ages obtained from crater counts of the surfaces where we have found evidence of liquid water in the past implies that

Answer 7

liquid water was present on Mars in the distant past.

Question 8

Planetary Geologists refer to the lithosphere of a planet when discussing processes such as plate tectonics, or hot spots. Which statement best describes the lithosphere of any planetary body.

Answer 8

The outer, rigid shell of a planet.

Question 9

The rover, Spirit, found copious amounts of Olivine in the soil samples from Gustav Crater. What does this tell us about the presence of water in the crater?

Answer 9

Water could not have existed in the crater for more than ~100 years.

Question 10

The hematite that was detected from space at the Opportunity landing site was found to be in the form of

Answer 10

small spheres scattered all over the surface.

Question 11

In lecture you were told that finding either (or both) hematite or goethite at a site indicated that liquid water was once present there. Why do these minerals point to the presence of liquid water in the past at these sites?

Answer 11

Both minerals are formed in warm, wet environments.

Question 12

The Spirit landing site was chosen because it looked like a classic Lacustrine environment. In otherwords, the landing site looked like what?

Answer 12

A dry lake bed.

Question 13

There are two main processes modifying the surface of Mars today. What are they?

Answer 13

wind & low level impacts

Question 14

The Tharsis Region on Mars is so massive, it

Answer 14

is responsible for the creation of the Valles Marineris.

Question 15

The Tharsis Region on Mars is “young” (~0.5 Byrs) compared to any surface we have encountered on the Moon. What does this imply about Mars?

Answer 15

Mars remained geologically active longer than the Moon.

Question 16

The rocks strewn around the Viking 2 lander site appeard to be (or are most likely) which type of rock sample?

Answer 16

Basalt

Question 17

All of the evidence presented on Mars in lecture so far implies what about Mars in the distant past (~3.5 Byrs ago)?

Answer 17

It must have been warmer and wetter than it is today.

Question 18

The Phoenix Lander on Mars dug into the soil and found

Answer 18

ices

Question 19

The Phoenix Lander found Perchlorate at it’s landing site near the north pole of Mars. What is a significant property of Perchlorate?

Answer 19

It acts like anti-freeze, allowing water to exist briefly as a liquid on the surface.

Question 20

The fact that most of the salts and seasonal flows on Mars are found on the heavily cratered southern highlands implies that…

Answer 20

Liquid water existed on the surface in the distant past.

Question 21

The Soviet Venera Landers found the surface at their landing sites on Venus to be composed primarily of

Answer 21

basalt

Question 22

The radar images returned from the Magellan Orbiter showed many light and dark regions. The light regions are interpreted as being

Answer 22

very rough regions.

Question 23

Almost all impact craters on Venus are

Answer 23

10-100 km complex craters

Question 24

When UV light dissociates a water molecule on Venus (breaks the bond between the O atom and the two H atoms), where does the oxygen atom go?

Answer 24

It rusts the rocks on Venus’ surface

Question 25

If some catastrophic event killed all life on Earth tomorrow, which of the following gasses would slowly be lost from Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 25

Oxygen

Question 26

Venus loses heat at __________________ Earth.

Answer 26

a much slower slower rate than

Question 27

The huge dome-like coronae features on the surface of Venus are believed to be a result of what process?

Answer 27

Blob Tectonics.

Question 28

The number of small impact craters on the crater-density plot for Venus departs dramatically from what we would expect for a world in the inner solar system. Why?

Answer 28

Most small impactors burned up in the thick atmosphere.

Question 29

Water in the atmospheres of both Mars and Venus is destroyed mainly by interactions with

Answer 29

sunlight.

Question 30

In lecture, I mentioned a “key ingredient” that makes plate tectonics function efficiently. What was that ingredient?

Answer 30

water

Question 31

The two most abundant gasses released by volcanism in the inner solar system are

Answer 31

Water and Carbon Dioxide.

Question 32

The surface age of Venus is roughly

Answer 32

0.5 Byrs.

Question 33

Two of the mechanisms listed below are very efficient and important sinks for carbon dioxide on Earth. Which are they?

Answer 33

Weathering and (plant) life.

Question 34

What process modulates the pressure of the Martian atmosphere?

Answer 34

The freeze/thaw cycle of carbon dioxide ice at the polar caps.

Question 35

Mars Pathfinder found that all of the rocks at its landing site were covered in soil. This soil had the same chemical composition of soil at the Viking lander sites. How is this possible?

Answer 35

Seasonal dust storms transport dust/soil globally.

Question 36

Weathering is a strong sink for carbon dioxide in a planetary atmosphere. Why does current day Mars lack this mechanism?

Answer 36

Mars’ atmosphere does not strongly interact with the surface.

Question 37

The orbital period of the moon around the Earth matches its rotation period. This is called

Answer 37

synchronous rotation

Question 38

The most common solid material in our solar system is

Answer 38

Ice

Question 39

What was the primary reason the Apollo 11 landing site was selected?

Answer 39

it was a smooth, flat region that was easy to land on

Question 40

How did the landing sites of the later Apollo missions (15,16,17) differ from the earlier ones?

Answer 40

they were geologically diverse sites

Question 41

Why do we need to study the Moon to understand the Earth’s very ancient past?

Answer 41

the Earth is geologically active and has erased most old surfaces

Question 42

What do I mean if I say that a material is very volatile?

Answer 42

it takes very little heat to cause the material to change state

Question 43

The Moon’s moment of inertia is very close to 0.4 because

Answer 43

The Moon is composed mostly of just rock

Question 44

How does the Fission Theory plausibly motivate the lack of volatiles in the Moon and the Earth?

Answer 44

fission from the Earth is a high energy event

Question 45

Why can’t the theory of Giant Impact predict the size of the Moon?

Answer 45

the size of the Moon depends on the size of the impactor

Question 46

Why is the presence of the Moon important for complex life on Earth?

Answer 46

the Moon stabilizes the obliquity of the Earth’s axis over time

Question 47

How old are rocks on the Lunar mare?

Answer 47

~3.5Byo

Question 48

How old are rocks in the Lunar highlands?

Answer 48

~4.5Byo