Chapter 10

Question 1

Mars has __ __ __ __

Answer 1

• Dry riverbeds
• Erosion of Craters
• Martian Rocks
• Huge Mountains/Deep Canyons

Question 2

Geology of Venus

Answer 2

• Few Impact Craters
• Little Erosion

Question 3

Radar Mapping

Answer 3

The returning radio waves are used to create an image; because Venus has so thick an atmosphere

Question 4

Seafloor Recycling

Answer 4

Seafloor is recycled
through a process known
as subduction

Question 5

Plate Motions

Answer 5

Measurements of plate motions tell us past and
future layout of the continents

Question 6

Atmosphere

Answer 6

a layer of gas that surrounds a world

Question 7

How thick is Earth’s Atmosphere?

Answer 7

10 km thick

Question 8

What is Earth’s Atmosphere mostly made of?

Answer 8

Nitrogen and Oxygen

Question 9

Atmospheric Pressure

Answer 9

Pressure and density decrease with altitude because the weight of
overlying layers is less

Question 10

Where does the atmosphere end?

Answer 10

There is no clear upper boundary.
Most of Earth’s gas is less than 10 kilometers from surface, but a small fraction extends to
more than 100 kilometers

Question 11

What are the 5 effects of the atmosphere

Answer 11

• Create pressure that determines if liquid water can exist
• Absorbs and scatters light
• Creates wind, weather, and climate
• Interacts w solar wind to create a magnetosphere
• Can make planetary surfaces warmer through the the greenhouse effects

Question 12

Greenhouse Effect

Answer 12

Visible light passes through the atmosphere and
warms a planet’s surface.
The atmosphere absorbs infrared light from the
surface, trapping heat

Question 13

What is the effect of distance on planetary temperature?

Answer 13

A planet’s distance from the Sun determines the total
amount of incoming sunlight

Question 14

What is the effect of rotation on planetary temperature?

Answer 14

A planet’s rotation rate affects the temperature
differences between day and night

Question 15

Reflectivity/Albedo

Answer 15

the proportion of the incident light or radiation that is reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon

Question 16

What would happen to Earth’s temperature if Earth were more reflective?

Answer 16

It would go down

Question 17

If Earth didn’t have an atmosphere, what would happen to its temperature?

Answer 17

It would go down a lot (more than 10°C)

Question 18

Ionization

Answer 18

removal of an electron

Question 19

Dissociation

Answer 19

destruction of a
molecule

Question 20

Scattering

Answer 20

change in photon’s
direction

Question 21

Absorption

Answer 21

photon’s energy is
absorbed

Question 22

What kind of light can ionize/dissociate molecules?

Answer 22

Xray and UV light

Question 23

Troposphere

Answer 23

lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
Temperature drops with altitude. Warmed by infrared light
from surface and convection

Question 24

Stratosphere

Answer 24

layer above the troposphere. Temperature
rises with altitude in lower part, drops with altitude in
upper part. Warmed by absorption of ultraviolet sunlight

Question 25

Thermosphere

Answer 25

layer at about 100 kilometers altitude. Temperature rises with altitude. X rays and ultraviolet light from the Sun heat and ionize gases

Question 26

Exosphere

Answer 26

highest layer in which atmosphere gradually fades into space. Temperature rises with altitude; atoms can escape into space. Warmed by X rays and UV light

Question 27

Why is the sky blue?

Answer 27

Air molecules scatter blue light more than red light

Question 28

Which is the only planet to have a stratosphere because of UV-absorbing ozone molecules?

Answer 28

Earth

Question 29

What causes an Aurora?

Answer 29

Charged particles from solar wind energize the upper atmosphere near magnetic poles

Question 30

What does Earths magnetic field protect us from?

Answer 30

The Suns solar wind

Question 31

Weather

Answer 31

is the ever-varying combination of wind, clouds, temperature, and pressure. Local complexity of weather makes it difficult to predict.

Question 32

Climate

Answer 32

the long-term average of weather. Long-term stability of climate depends on global conditions and is more predictable.

Question 33

Global Wind Patterns

Answer 33

- Equatorial - Mid-latitudes - High latitudes

Question 34

Circulation Cells

Answer 34

Heated air rises at equator. Cooler air descends at poles. Without rotation, these motions would produce two large circulation cells

Question 35

Coriolis Effect

Answer 35

Vis the planet's rotation, making the wind/currents curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere

Question 36

The coriolis effect deflects which winds into each other?

Answer 36

North-south winds into east-west winds

Question 37

What (4) factors can cause long-term climate change?

Answer 37

- Solar brightening - Changes in reflectivity - Changes in axis tilt - Changes in Greenhouse Gas abundance

Question 38

Solar brightening

Answer 38

As the Sin brightens with time, the increasing sunlight tends to warm the planets

Question 39

Changes in reflectivity

Answer 39

Higher reflectivity tends to cool a planet while lower reflectivity leads to warming

Question 40

Changes in Axis tilt

Answer 40

Greater tilt makes more extreme seasons, while smaller tilt keeps polar regions colder

Question 41

Changes in greenhouse gas abundance

Answer 41

An increase in greenhouse gases slowly escape infrared radiation warming the planet, while a decrease leads to cooling

Question 42

How does a climate gain/lose atmospheric gases?

Answer 42

Sources of gas/Losses of Gase

Question 43

What are two sources of gas?

Answer 43

- Outgassing from volcanoes - Evaporation of surface liquid/ sublimination of surface ice

Question 44

What are 6 ways to lose gas?

Answer 44

- impacts of particles + photons - thermal escape of atoms - sweeping by solar winds - condensation onto surface - chemical reactions w surface - large impacts blasting gas into space