PHYS 1404 Final

drilling down to the core on both continents and seafloors have revealed the structure of the Earth's interior.

the density of the Earth is too small to be composed only of crust material.

differentiation and integration are processes that mix the material of Earth's interior into a uniform structure like that in the mantle.

seismic waves measured at different locations allow scientists to probe the Earth's interior.

inner core, outer core, mantle, crust, stratosphere, troposphere, magnetosphere, ionosphere

inner core, mantle, outer core, crust, troposphere, ionosphere, stratosphere, magnetosphere

inner core, outer core, mantle, crust, troposphere, stratosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere

inner core, mantle, outer core, crust, troposphere, stratosphere, magnetosphere, ionosphere

is a region of high energy ions high above the Earth's atmosphere.

is located in the Earth's magnetosphere.

was discovered using instrumentation build by University of Iowa Professor James Van Allen and carried aboard the Explorer 1 spacecraft.

Every single one of these answers is correct!

was discovered in 1958 and showed that charged particles were trapped in the magnetosphere.

igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, and primitive.

ingenious, sedimentary, metastatic, and primate.

seafloor, continental, primitive, and tectonic.

primitive, volcanic, basalt, and sedimentary.

a type of rock that has gone through primitive, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic states.

a primitive rock that no longer exists on Earth.

a metamorphic form of quartz.

a type of rock formed from crushed crystals to put it in a primitive state.

is a tectonic region responsible for seafloor spreading.

is a category of rock formed by cooling from a molten state.

is an example of a region of Earth's surface where two continental plates touch.

is a category of rock formed by intense heat and pressure found near regions of mountain building and volcanoes.

Slow convection in the mantle allows heated material to rise up from the core, convey across the bottom of the plates moving them along, then slowly sink as cooler material back to the core.

The pressure caused by plates touching each other creates enough energy to metamorphize the plates and move them along.

Rift zone and subduction zones work to make nuclear energy which the plates then use to convey along the Earth's surface.

Once the energy used to form mountains and fault zones is used up, it can be diverted and utilized to produce continental drift.

hot spot.

oceanic trench.

subduction zone.

rift zone.

tectonic plate theory.

volcanic activity near a subduction zone.

a mantle hot spot.

seafloor spreading like that found near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

oxygen.

nitrogen.

carbon dioxide.

carbon monoxide.

water vapor.

is located in the mesosphere and contains a heavy form of oxygen with thirteen atoms per molecule.

is an ultraviolet-blocking layer located in the stratosphere, but it can be depleted by CFCs.

is an infrared-blocking layer in the ionosphere where a large ozone hole is located due to ozone depletion caused by CFCs.

is the layer of the atmosphere responsible for block every wavelength of electromagnetic radiation except visible and radio waves. It is being depleted by CFCs.

It could have been formed when early lifeforms, such as Cthulhu, tried to harness the power of dark magic.

It could have been released from the interior of Earth through volcanic activity subsequent to the formation of the planet.

The atmosphere could have been formed with the rest of Earth as it accumulated from debris left over the formation of the Sun.

Frozen comets or asteroids with water may have transported the water to Earth.

contained lots of carbon dioxide and methane, but little to no oxygen.

is responsible for the formation of tectonic features.

was locked up on Mars until the Earth cooled.

was heated by convection from the mantle until the crust was formed.

All of these are correct answers.

All of these are correct answers.

was probably originally produced by blue-green algae.

is a byproduct of plant waste.

first occurred in conjunction with a decrease in the level of CO2.

was probably not present in the early Earth's atmosphere.

the Earth's surface temperature would still be hot because of heat escaping the core.

the Earth's surface temperature would be comfortable and climate change would not occur.

the Earth would be like a giant snowball with temperatures well below freezing.

the CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels would create global warming.

Earth formed after the period of heavy bombardment leaving very few objects to form craters on Earth.

The Earth's atmosphere protects it from meteorites and asteroids.

The Moon acts as a shield for the Earth. Its gravity attracts the debris that would otherwise form craters on Earth.

Geologic processes, such as plate tectonics and erosion, have erased evidence of the craters.

are all examples of mass extinction events.

were all caused by impacts of extraterrestrial objects.

are all caused by supervolcanic events.

are the names of the three largest craters on Earth.

The planet must have a molten interior.

The planet must be made of mostly dirt.

The planet must have a thick atmosphere.

The planet must be have a magnetosphere.

hot mantle material rises upward, punches through a plate, and creates volcanic islands.

plates push together, creating ocean mountain chains.

hot mantle material rises upward and spreads the plates, pushing them apart and forming a ridge.

one plate slides under another, returning older crust to the mantle.

Entamoebae

Bacteria

Archaea

Eukarya

core

stratosphere

mantle

crust

The same for both

We don't know. Mercury's diameter hasn't been determined.

Mercury

Moon

USA

UN

International Cooperative of Nations

USSR

UN

USSR

International Cooperative of Nations

USA

It has a diameter less than half that of Earth.

It is covered by craters in all hemispheres.

It is close to the Sun.

It has a metal core about the size of our Moon.

Mercury's nearness to the Sun heats the surface and wrinkles it.

Uplift from volcanic activity formed large depressions that stretched many miles.

At some point in its past after the period of heavy bombardment, Mercury shrunk, wrinkling its crust.

The period of heavy bombardment caused large tectonic features like plates of continental drift to form mountain chains.

the color of its surface today due to the different colors a giant impactor would have due to its different chemical makeup.

why it is so close to the Sun.

its large metallic core, because the crust and mantle may have been torn away leaving a body dominated by an iron core.

why the density of Mercury is so small.

The gases that formed Earth's atmosphere were not present at the time of the formation of the Moon or Mercury.

Theirs masses, and therefore their gravitational force, is not large enough to retain gases and volatile compounds.

Unlike the Earth, their atmospheres are exposed to the Sun, therefore the solar wind blows their atmospheres away after a while.

Geologists and atmospheric scientists have been unable to explain this difference.

Mercury's orbit near the Sun

the addition of Earth's atmosphere to the equation.

giant impacts

continental drift

13.7 billion years ago.

3.14 billion years ago.

65 million years ago.

4.5 billion years ago.

John Muir

Neil Armstrong

Grove K. Gilbert

Tycho Brahe

it doesn't match the Moon's orbit.

it is almost perfectly circular.

it is highly elliptical.

it is close to the Sun and therefore hotter than the other orbits.

The Moon

Mars

Earth

Mercury

Venus

pure water ice.

a mix of carbon dioxide ice and water ice

pure carbon dioxide ice.

meringue.

large canyon on Venus.

large canyon on Mars.

vast rolling plain on the equator of Mars.

large valley on the dark side of Venus.

internal temperature and atmosphere

distance from the Sun and atmosphere

size and atmosphere

size and distance from the Sun

Greenhouse gases transmit visible light, allowing it to heat the surface, but then absorb infrared light from the planet surface, trapping the heat near the surface.

Ozone transmits visible light, allowing it to heat the surface, but then absorbs most of the infrared heat, trapping the heat near the surface.

Greenhouse gases absorb X rays and ultraviolet light from the Sun, which then heat the atmosphere and the surface.

Greenhouse gases absorb infrared light from the Sun, which then heats the atmosphere and the surface.

It is too close to the Sun

It does not rotate fast enough

It does not have an ozone layer.

Its rotation axis is not tilted.

The atmospheres of Venus and Earth were probably similar early in solar system history. However heat from the Sun would have evaporated any water from the surface of Venus. This would release any carbon dioxide absorbed by the bodies of water. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acted as a greenhouse gas, preventing infrared radiation from escaping the planet. This would cause a rise in temperature, even more  evaporation, and further release of carbon dioxide. Then with water vapor in the atmosphere, ultraviolet sunlight would break up the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen would escape the planet because the gravity of Venus was insufficient to hold onto it. The oxygen would combine with carbon and eventually become locked up in the rocks. With no large bodies of water, carbon dioxide is not absorbed, making it the major component of the atmosphere of Venus.

Large bodies of water on Venus did not capture the carbon dioxide like on Earth. Since the planet Venus formed without water on its surface, then there was no place for the carbon dioxide to go except into the atmosphere. Since the atmosphere is so rich with carbon dioxide then there is a runaway greenhouse effect. If water exits underground on Venus then releasing the water will make the surface wet.

There is a carbon cycle on Venus. The carbon emitted by volcanoes is first in the atmosphere, but it quickly becomes locked up in rock. These rocks are melted by the mantle of Venus and are ultimately converted back into volcanic emissions. This repeating pattern is what makes up the carbon cycle of Venus. The runaway greenhouse effect occurs because of the current amount of volcanic carbon present in the atmosphere of Venus.

The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Venus is what causes the runaway greenhouse effect in the planet's atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is made of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. In order to get carbon dioxide you need carbon and oxygen. If the atmospheres of Earth and Venus were similar early in the history of the solar system, then the carbon and oxygen on Venus combined to make carbon dioxide, but that was not the case on Earth. The carbon dioxide on Venus was sufficient to cause the runaway greenhouse effect.

The fact that Venus is so close to the Sun means that the visible light is washed out by the brightness of the Sun.

Visible light doesn't work on the surface of Venus because carbon dioxide blocks visible light.

Radar can penetrate the thick atmosphere of Venus whereas visible light is blocked.

Venus is too hot for visible light to be emitted.

Earth

Venus

The Moon

Mars

Mercury

Mars is much smaller than Earth, so its gravity was not sufficient to hold a gaseous atmosphere over a long period of time. Mars' atmosphere would have gotten thinner as gases escaped to space. This would lead to lower surface temperatures, and some gases would have frozen and fallen out of the atmosphere, lowering temperatures still further. The thinner atmosphere and colder temperatures would lead to the loss of most water from the planet, except for water in the form of ice, which may still exist in permafrost ground deposits near the poles or buried deeply under the surface, or possibly underground saltwater in liquid form.

Because Mars is much smaller than Earth, the atmosphere would not have been as thick as Earth's. This means that it would have been composed mostly of carbon dioxide from the beginning. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, the heat of Mars would have escaped to space after a few million years. This would have left very little surface heat which is called the refrigerator effect.

Most refrigerators today run off of electricity. In most cases the motor that drives the refrigerator is the device that utilized the electricity. As a result, the motor will usually experience a slight vibration with a frequency around 60 Hertz. This vibration creates a low but distinct audible hum that we are able to hear when listening carefully. The low-level hum is an indication that the refrigerator is running. This effect is the runaway refrigerator effect. When applied to Mars, the low-level hum caused the atmosphere of Mars to become much thinner and ultimately to be composed mostly of carbon dioxide. This made the surface temperature of Mars much lower than that of Earth.

Soon after the Earth formed a giant impactor struck the Earth and ultimately formed the Earth-Moon system. This impact would have effected the Earth's atmosphere much more differently than Mars, which did not suffer such an impact. The fact that Mars is much colder is due to the runaway refrigerator effect. If Earth had not suffered a giant impact, then its surface temperature would have been much colder like that of Mars.

Venus

The Moon

Earth

Mars

Impactors on Mars caused rocks to escape and eventually land on Earth as meteorites.

Volcanoes on Mars blew rocks into space that eventually landed on Earth as meteors

Aliens brought rocks from Mars when they moved to Earth.

Mars rocks were made on Earth by similar processes.

It has a greater proportion of hydrogen than Saturn.

It has a different composition than Saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks.

Its hydrogen is molecular, whereas Saturn's hydrogen is atomic.

The extra mass of Neptune compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of Saturn making it only appear smaller.

The extra mass of Jupiter compresses its interior to a greater extent than that of Saturn.

It has a greater proportion of helium to hydrogen compared to Saturn.

Its core is much larger than Saturn's.

It is made of a different composition than Saturn, including a higher proportion of hydrogen compounds and rocks.

primordial heat left over from the gravitational accretion of matter which converts potential energy into thermal energy

internal friction due to its high rotation rate

heat produced from differentiation converts gravitational potential energy to heat

radioactive decay

All have about the same amount of hydrogen and helium but the proportion of rocks is greater in those planets closer to the Sun.

The core mass decreases with the mass of the planet.

The composition changes from mostly ammonia in Jupiter and Saturn to mostly methane in Uranus and Neptune.

All have rocky cores but differ in the amount of surrounding hydrogen and helium.

Methane did not exist in the solar nebula at the radii of Jupiter and Saturn when the planets formed.

Methane reacts with the abundant ammonia clouds in Jupiter and Saturn.

The relatively slow rotation of Uranus and Neptune allows methane to migrate to higher levels in the atmosphere and condense into clouds.

Methane does not condense into ice in the warmer atmospheric temperatures of Jupiter and Saturn.

Jupiter's seasons are the same as Earth's except they last several years due to Jupiter's orbit.

Since Jupiter's orbital period is about 10 years, each season will last about one-fourth of 10 years.

Jupiter doesn't have seasons since its rotational axis is only tilted 3 degrees.

The seasons on Jupiter are short due to the planet's fast rotation rate.

radioactive decay heats the core

internal friction due to its high rotation rate

Primordial heat left over from the gravitational accretion of matter.

The mantle of Saturn is still differentiating causing helium to rain out of the atmosphere and release gravitational potential energy as heat.

Earth

Saturn

Neptune

Jupiter

Uranus

Uranus

Neptune

Jupiter

Saturn

hydrogen

metals

helium

methane

Voyager 1

Voyager 2

Pioneer 11

Pioneer 10

Venera 9

Uranus

Neptune

Saturn

Jupiter

The radio waves from Jupiter are equivalent to those of the other Jovian planets; however, the radio waves appear more intense because Jupiter is nearer than the other planets.

Jupiter emits large amounts of internal heat which appear as radio waves coming from the magnetosphere.

High speed electrons accelerating in the magnetosphere emit radio waves.

Jupiter's hydrogen and ammonia interact chemically to form molecules that emit large amounts of radio waves.

Jupiter

Saturn

All of the Jovian planets have rings.

Uranus

Neptune

All have gaps and ringlets, probably due to gap moons, shepherd moons, and orbital resonances.

All probably look much like they did when the solar system first formed.

All the particle orbits are fairly circular, near their planet's equatorial plane.

All are made of individual particles of rock or ice that orbit in accord with Kepler's laws: inner ring particles orbiting faster, and outer ring particles orbiting slower.

The region where Gian Domenico Cassini noticed a shepherd moon herding ring particles.

The wide band between the A and B rings filled with dark ring material.

The dark inner region of the B ring that appears as a gap in the otherwise smooth rings of Saturn.

A region where resonance with the moon Mimas has depleted ring particles.

It is colder than any other moon or planet and yet has cryovolcanoes of nitrogen gas.

It orbits Neptune in the opposite direction of Neptune's rotation and has characteristics of dwarf planets like Pluto.

It undergoes seasonal changes.

It is too large to have been formed in the Jovian nebula that formed Neptune.

It has lakes of liquid methane.

Its surface is mostly hidden from view by its thick atmosphere.

Its atmosphere is mostly nitrogen.

It is the coldest moon in the solar system.

Its temperature is too cold for liquid water to exist.

Io

Triton

Callisto

Titan

Ganymede

accretion

tidal heating

differentiation

heavy bombardment

The thick atmosphere eroded them all.

They have all been buried in lava flows.

The strong magnetic field of Jupiter stopped objects from impacting Io.

Jupiter's gravity kept Io from being bombarded.

Ice contains more radioactive elements than rock.

Ice freezes harder than rock at the temperatures found in the outer solar system.

Ice is denser than rock.

Ice has a lower melting point than rock.

the rings of Saturn

the liquid interior of Europa

the volcanos on Io

the synchronous rotation of the Moon around the earth

the retrograde orbit of Triton

a few 10's of centimeters

a few 10's of meters

about 140,000 kilometers

a few kilometers

Callisto

Titan

Ganymede

Earth's Moon.

Io

Earth's Moon

Eurpoa

Callisto

are caused by tidal heating from Jupiter.

are similar in composition and character to the volcanoes of Io but are much smaller.

were shown by Voyager 2 to not be associated with the moon's polar cap but to be caused by tiger stripes.

are fountains of nitrogen gas that carry dust 10 km into the moon's thin atmosphere.

Percival Lowell

Clyde Tombaugh

Ancient Greeks

New Horizons Spacecraft

By an airborne infrared telescope during an occultation in 1977.

By Clyde Tombaugh using a telescope.

By the Voyager 2 spacecraft when it flew by the planet in 1986.

By Percival Lowell at Lowell Observatory

Lakes of liquid nitrogen were not expected but were found by the New Horizons spacecraft.

Pluto and Charon are so close and similar in size that the atmosphere is shared between the two bodies.

Both bodies are too small to have ever been geologically active.

Ices sublimate when Pluto is close to the Sun giving Pluto an atmosphere.

an ancient moon broke up due to tidal forces.

the gravity of Saturn is causing the moon Titan to lose its atmosphere and feed the ring.

the cryovolcanoes of Enceladus replenish the ring particles.

two large shepherd moons keep the ice particles in line.

are the names of the two outermost moons of Jupiter.

are the twin spacecraft sent to explore the twin planets of Pluto and Charon.

are examples of shepherd moons keeping Saturn's F ring in line.

are the moons of Pluto whose gravitational resonance forms the seasonal atmosphere of the planet.

An asteroid would be important due to how many valence electrons are in orbit, but comets would not be important because they have no nucleus.

Both comets and asteroids have advanced far beyond the evolution of the planets and represent the future of our solar system.

Because they have a composition much like our mountains, which contain vast minerals.

These objects (comets and asteroids) provide evidence for the conditions that existed in the solar nebula and early solar system.

Between Jupiter and Saturn

Between the orbits of Neptune and Uranus

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter

Beyond the dwarf planet Pluto

As a S-type asteroid

As an asteroid that was previously a comet.

As a C-type asteroid

As an M-type asteroid

Vesta’s surface is partially covered in basalt, which indicates volcanic activity, thus making it a differentiated world.

Vesta’s surface is partially covered in magnesium and water, which indicates it may have supported life at one time.

Vesta’s surface is partially covered in a metallic material called silica which was rare during its time of formation in the solar system and indicates Vesta had deep oceans at one time.