Planetary Geology

PLANETARY
GEOLOGY
(Comparative
Planetology)
J.T. II Olivar, MAEd
Faculty of Arts and Letters
University of Santo Tomas
The planets: An overview
 The solar system includes:
 Sun
 Nine planets and their satellites
 Asteroids
 Comets
 Meteoroids
 A planet's orbit lies in an orbital plane
 Similar to a flat sheet of paper
 The orbital planes of the planets are
inclined
 Orbital planes of seven planets lie
within 3 degrees of the Sun's equator
Orbits of the planets
 Two groups of planets occur in the solar
system:
 Terrestrial (Earthlike) planets
– Small, dense, rocky planets of
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
 Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets
– Large, low density, gaseous planets of
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
 Pluto is not included in either group
 Planets are composed of:
 Gases – mainly hydrogen and helium
 Rocks – silicate minerals and
metallic iron
 Ices – ammonia, methane, carbon
dioxide, and water
Origin and evolution of the
planets
 Nebular hypothesis
 Planets formed about 5 billion years ago
 Solar system condensed from a gaseous
nebula
 As the planets formed, the material that
compose them separated in a process called
chemical differentiation
Origin and evolution of the
planets
 Due to their surface gravitations, Venus
and Earth retained atmospheric gases
 Due to frigid temperatures, the Jovian
planets contain a high percentage of ices
Earth’s moon
 General characteristics
 Diameter of 2150 miles is unusually
large compared to its parent planet
 Density – about three times that of
water
 Gravity – one-sixth of Earth’s
Earth’s moon
 Lunar surface
 Maria – darker lowlands covered by
basaltic lava flows
 Highlands – brighter more densely
cratered regions
 Craters are produced by meteoroid
impacts
Major topographic features
on the lunar surface
Formation of lunar maria
Earth’s moon
 Lunar History
 Most widely accepted hypothesis
suggests that a giant asteroid collided
with Earth to produce the moon
 One method used to work out lunar
history is to observe crater density
– Older areas have a higher density
– Younger areas are still smooth
Earth’s moon
 Lunar History
 Moon evolved in three phases
– Original crust (highlands) around 4.5
billion years old (same age as Earth)
– Formation of maria basins between 3.2
and 3.8 billion years ago
– Formation of rayed craters (ejected
material from craters is still visible)
The planets: a brief tour
 Mercury: the innermost planet
 Second smallest
 No atmosphere
 Cratered highlands
 Vast, smooth terrains that resemble maria
 Very dense
 Revolves quickly and rotates slowly
 Venus: the veiled planet
 Second to the moon in brilliance
 Similar to Earth in size, density, mass,
and location in the solar system
 Shrouded in thick clouds of carbon
dioxide
 Surface mapped by radar is mainly
subdued plains covered by volcanic flows
Mons Olympus – a large,
inactive shield volcano on Mars
 Mars: the red planet
 Atmosphere of carbon dioxide is only 1
percent as dense as Earth’s
 Surface of numerous large volcanoes and
canyons
 Tectonically dead
 “Stream drainage” pattern found in some
areas
 Jupiter: lord of the heavens
 Largest planet
 Rapid rotation – less than 10 hours
 Banded appearance due to winds
 Great Red Spot is a cyclonic storm
 Surface is thought to be a vast ocean of
liquid hydrogen
 At least 16 moons
 Saturn: the elegant planet
 Similar to Jupiter in atmosphere,
composition, and internal structure
 Most prominent feature are an extensive
system of rings
 Multiple moons – Titan is second largest
in the solar system
 Dynamic atmosphere with cyclonic
storms
The ring system of Saturn
 Uranus
 Uranus and Neptune are considered
“twin” planets
 Rotates “on its side”
 System of rings
 Large moons with quite varied terrains
 Neptune
 Dynamic atmosphere – one of the
windiest places in the solar system
 Eight satellites
 Triton, the largest of Neptune’s moons,
exhibits retrograde motion, lowest surface
temperatures in the solar system, and
volcanic-like activity
 Pluto
 Too dim to be visible with the unaided
eye
 Discovered in 1930
 Highly elongated orbit causes it to
occasionally travel inside the orbit of
Neptune
Minor members of the solar
system
 Asteroids: microplanets
 Most lie between Mars and Jupiter
 Small bodies – largest (Ceres) is about
620 miles in diameter
 Some have very eccentric orbits
 Many of the recent impacts on the Earth
and Moon were asteroids
 Origin is uncertain
The asteroid belt
system
 Comets: dirty snowballs
 Composition of frozen gases with some
rocky and metallic materials
 Frozen gases vaporize to produce a
glowing head when the comet is near the
Sun
 Origin is not well known
 Most famous short-period comet is
Halley’s comet
system
 Meteoroids
 Called meteors when they enter Earth’s
atmosphere
 Referred to meteorites when they are
found on Earth
 Classified by composition – irons, stony,
stony-irons, and carbonaceous chondrites
 Give an idea as to the age of the solar
system
Reference
 Tarbuck and Lutgens. 2001. Earth
Science (9th edition). New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Planetary Geology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Planetary Geology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Planetary Geology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PLANETARY

You might also like