Astronomy CH 9 – Flashcards
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Rank the five terrestrial worlds in order of size from smallest to largest?
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Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Earth
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Under what circumstances can differentiation occur in a planet?
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The planet must have a molten interior
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The core, mantle, and crust of a planet are defined by differences in their?
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Composition
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What is the most important factor that determines the thickness, and therefore strength, of the lithosphere?
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Internal Temperature
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Which internal energy source produces heat by converting gravitational potential energy into thermal energy?
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Accretion and Differentitaiton/ both A and B
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Which of the following best describes convection?
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It is the process in which warm material expands and rises while cool material contracts and falls.
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The three principal sources of internal heat of terrestrial planets are?
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accretion, differentiation, and radioactivity
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Heat escapes from a planet's surface into space by thermal radiation. Planets radiate almost entirely in the wavelength range of the?
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Infared
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Which of the following best describes why the smaller terrestrial worlds have cooler interiors than the larger ones?
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They have relatively more surface area compared to their volumes.
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Why does Earth have the strongest magnetic field among the terrestrial worlds?
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It is the only one that has both a partially molten metallic core and reasonably rapid rotation
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What are the conditions necessary for a terrestrial planet to have a strong magnetic field?
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both a molten metallic core and reasonably fast rotation
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Which two properties are most important in determining the surface temperature of a planet?
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distance from the Sun and atmosphere
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How large is an impact crater compared to the size of the impactor?
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10 times larger
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When we see a region of a planet that is not as heavily cratered as other regions, we conclude that?
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the surface in the region is younger than the surface in more heavily cratered regions.
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Shallow-sloped shield volcanoes are made from lava that?
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has a medium viscosity
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What type of stresses broke Earth's lithosphere into plates?
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the circulation of convection cells in the mantle, which dragged against the lithosphere
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Which of the following describes erosion?
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the wearing down or building up of geological features by wind, water, ice, and other phenomena of planetary weather
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Which of the following describes impact cratering?
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the excavation of bowl-shaped depressions by asteroids or comets striking a planet's surface
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How did the lunar maria form?
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Large impacts fractured the Moon's lithosphere, allowing lava to fill the impact basins.
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The Caloris Basin on Mercury covers a large region of the planet, but few smaller craters have formed on top of it. From this we conclude that?
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formed toward the end of the solar system's period of heavy bombardment
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What kind of surface features may result from tectonics?
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Valleys, mountains, volcanos, and cliffs/ all of the above
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Olympus Mons is a?
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shield volcano on Mars
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Which of the following does not provide evidence that Mars once had flowing water?
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the presence of vast canals discovered in the late 1800s by Giovanni Schiaparelli and mapped by Percival Lowell
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How have we been able to construct detailed maps of surface features on Venus?
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by using radar from spacecraft that were sent to orbit Venus
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Which of the following show evidence of ancient river beds?
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Mars
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What process has shaped Earth's surface more than any other?
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plate tectonics
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How does seafloor crust differ from continental crust?
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Seafloor crust is thinner, younger, and higher in density.
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Which of the following is not evidence for plate tectonics on Earth?
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existence of volcanoes
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How long, approximately, do geologists estimate it takes for the entire seafloor to be replaced due to plate tectonics?
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200 million years
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Ridges in the middle of the ocean are places where?
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hot mantle material rises upward and spreads sideways, pushing the plates apart
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Some of the oldest continental crust on Earth lies in?
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Northeastern Canada
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The geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone National Park result from?
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plumes of hot mantle rising in a hot spot within a plate.
