Planetary Geology Lab Final Review

Planetary Geology Lab Final Review

Fall 2016

Topics to be familiar with for the final lab exam:

• Determine relative age of landforms based on cross-cutting relationships and superposition.

• How to determine direction of stream flow from a landform map

• How to make a geological map with units

• How to create a stratigraphic column

• Appearance of surfaces from radar images (texture vs. resultant image)

• Determine projectile angle and direction from impact crater images

o Look at past exams/labs

• The 4 basic geologic processes

o Impact cratering, volcanism, tectonics, erosion

• Determine distances on a map from the scale bar

Ice Giants, Pluto, Kupier Belt, Exoplanets Exam

• Know who discovered and composition of Ice Giants

• Know why Ice Giants are blue - Methane

• Atmosphere of Uranus is coldest because it appears it was originally the outermost planet in our solar system

• Why is Uranus so cold?

o Impacted early in accretion, weird tilted angle, accreted slowly, minimum interior heat

• Axial tilt vs. Rotation of Uranus

• Generating magnetic field – dense, ionicallt charged water in its mantle

• Structure of Ice Giants – very similar

o Review slides

• All Giant planets have rings, whether they’re visible or not

• Lots of Ice moons – Uranus

o Oberon and Titania

o Miranda – Twisted surface

• Neptune – very similar to Uranus most likely formed after Uranus

o Discovered by calculation

• Voyager 2 only device to explore both Uranus and Neptune

• Neptune is internally organized the same, similar size as Uranus, but warmer

• Neptune has fastest winds in our solar system – up to 1500 MPH

• Great Dark Spot – Emerging storm activity, more violent than Uranus

• Ice Giants do have seasons

• Neptune’s Magnetic Field – again weird, uncentered

o Similar to Uranus – likely generated by mantle

• Neptune also has rings, specifically ring arcs, not spread out completely

• Neptune’s moon – mostly small, ice-rock mixture

• Largest moon – Triton, roughly size of Pluto. Rotates retrograde, different from all other moons

o Triton was captured – most likely a Kupier Belt object originally

o Surface of water-ice with liquid Nitrogen guiysers

• Pluto discovered by Percival Lowell at observatory in AZ in 1906

• today considered Kupier belt object of dwarf planet

o Must gravitationally gravitate orbit

o Crosses Neptune’s orbit – 2:3 orbital resonance

♣ Every 2 Pluto orbits, Neptune orbits 3 times

• Pluto’s largest moon – Charon

o Also Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra much smaller

• Formation of Charon – similar to formation of our moon, impact between 2 KPOs

o Not at all a rare formation process

• Know a lot about Pluto from New Horizons

o Only device to explore Pluto – took 1.5 years to receive information from NH

o Look over NH

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