Deck 13: Comparative Planetology of the Terrestrial Planets

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT one of the stages in the development of a terrestrial planet?

A)hydrogenation
B)cratering
C)slow surface evolution
D)differentiation

Answer 1

hydrogenation

Question 2

The Earth possesses few visible craters,and the Moon possesses many.Why is this?

A)because the Earth formed later than the Moon and therefore hasn't encountered as many meteoroids
B)because the Moon's location in space makes it more likely to be hit by meteoroids
C)because erosion and plate tectonics have removed evidence of past cratering on the Earth
D)because the Earth has a higher average density than the Moon

Answer 2

because erosion and plate tectonics have removed evidence of past cratering on the Earth

Question 3

In the development of a terrestrial planet,at what stage does dense material settle to the core and less dense material to the outer parts?

A)differentiation
B)slow surface evolution
C)accretion
D)giant basin formation

Answer 3

differentiation

Question 4

Why would a decrease in the density of the ozone layer create a public health concern?

A)The greenhouse effect would not be as efficient and the temperature of the Earth would fall.
B)The greenhouse effect would be more efficient and the temperature of the Earth would rise.
C)Plant life would no longer have the ozone it needs for photosynthesis to create chlorophyll.
D)Additional ultraviolet radiation from the Sun would reach the surface of the Earth.

Question 5

Which of the following maintains the supply of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere?

A)stars in the Milky Way
B)the solar wind
C)plant life
D)meteorites

Question 6

In the development of a terrestrial planet,at what stage does molten rock flow through fissures and fill deep basins?

A)differentiation
B)cratering
C)slow surface evolution
D)giant basin formation

Question 7

Why does the greenhouse effect occur on Earth?

A)because carbon dioxide is transparent to visible light and opaque to infrared radiation
B)because carbon dioxide is opaque to visible light and transparent to infrared radiation
C)because carbon dioxide is totally opaque to both visible light and infrared radiation
D)because carbon dioxide is totally transparent to both visible light and infrared radiation

Question 8

Why must the central regions of the Earth's core be solid?

A)The pressure at the centre raises the melting point.
B)The magnetic field cannot penetrate into the centre of the core.
C)Convection does not extend all the way to the centre of the core.
D)The Earth initially formed from solid particles in the solar nebula.

Question 9

Which of the following properties differs least between the Earth and Venus?

A)atmospheric density
B)surface temperature
C)atmospheric composition
D)fraction of basaltic lowlands

Question 10

In contrast to the solid outer mantle,parts of the central regions of the Earth's interior are thought to be fluid.Which of the following supports this idea?

A)P seismic waves cannot pass through those regions.
B)S seismic waves cannot pass through those regions.
C)Neither P nor S seismic waves can pass through those regions.
D)Both P and S seismic waves easily pass through those regions.

Question 11

The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the dynamo effect.Where does this take place?

A)in the molten metallic core
B)in the solid central core
C)in the plastic mantle
D)in the aurora borealis and aurora australis

Question 12

Which of these gases is most responsible for the greenhouse effect on Earth?

A)nitrogen (N₂)
B)carbon dioxide (CO₂)
C)ozone (CO₃)
D)ammonia (NH₃)

Question 13

What causes slow surface evolution?

A)accretion
B)differentiation
C)plate tectonics
D)cratering

Question 14

Which of the following are the youngest parts of the Earth's crust?

A)the bottom layer of the Grand Canyon
B)the continental margins
C)the pre-Cambrian shield
D)the mid-ocean rises

Question 15

The Himalayan Mountains are rugged,jagged peaks,while the Appalachians are smooth and rolling.Why is there a difference?

A)The Himalayas are much older and the rocks have begun breaking off.
B)The Himalayas are volcanic mountains and the Appalachians are not.
C)The Appalachians are much older and have been smoothed by erosion.
D)The Appalachians are younger and have just started to be thrust upward by plate tectonics.

Question 16

What are the lunar maria?

A)the lava plains of the lunar lowlands
B)the smooth plateaus of the lunar highlands
C)groups of small craters on the far side
D)moving plates of lunar crust

Question 17

Which of the following is/are NOT produced by plate tectonics?

A)mid-ocean rises
B)rift valleys
C)the ring of fire
D)the Earth's magnetic field

Question 18

Which forms of radiation are able to pass through the ozone layer?

A)ultraviolet, visible light, infrared
B)visible light and infrared only
C)visible light only
D)infrared only

Question 19

Which of the following is evidence that the Earth went through a process of differentiation?

A)It rotates slowly.
B)Its magnetic field has changed over time.
C)Its average density is higher than the density of the crust.
D)It has a surface that is 75% water.

Question 20

What is the only form of slow surface evolution on the Moon?

A)low density masses of rock rising from the interior
B)moonquakes disturbing the surface features
C)low level meteorite impacts
D)motion along a network of small faults

Question 21

How does the fission hypothesis describe the Moon's origin?

A)The Moon broke off from a rapidly spinning Earth.
B)The Earth and the Moon formed from the same cloud of matter.
C)The Moon formed elsewhere in the solar nebula and was later captured by the Earth.
D)The Moon was formed when a very massive planetesimal smashed into the young Earth.

Question 22

What is believed to be the cause of coronae on Venus?

A)impact craters
B)rising convection currents in the interior
C)plate tectonics
D)the planet's slow rotation

Question 23

Which of the following processes appears to dominate the geology of Venus?

A)volcanism
B)plate tectonics
C)erosion by flowing water
D)impact cratering

Question 24

How has the surface of Venus been studied?

A)using radar maps made from Earth
B)using radar maps made from satellites orbiting Venus
C)using wheeled rovers that have landed on the surface of Venus
D)using visible-light cameras on satellites orbiting Venus

Question 25

Which sequence below shows the terrestrial worlds in the correct order from youngest to oldest average surface age?

A)Moon, Mars, Venus, Earth
B)Earth, Mars, Venus, Moon
C)Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars
D)Mars, Earth, Venus, Moon

Question 26

What does the presence of vesicular basalts - rocks containing frozen-in remnants of gas bubbles - among the lunar rock samples show?

A)that the lunar surface was fragmented by meteorite impacts
B)that the crust must have been made of anorthosite
C)that molten lava once flowed over the lunar surface
D)that the Moon was once hit by a very large meteorite

Question 27

What feature of Mercury is explained by the hypothesis that the planet shrank slightly when it was young?

A)extended lava plains
B)magnetic field
C)long, curved cliffs
D)regolith

Question 28

Which of the following solar system objects is most similar to Mercury in size and appearance?

A)Mars
B)Phobos
C)Earth's moon
D)Venus

Question 29

The graph plots the escape velocity of several solar system objects along the vertical axis,and surface temperature along the horizontal.The lines plotted in the figure are the speeds of the fastest gas particles as a function of temperature for various gases.Which of the gases plotted in the diagram could be retained in the atmosphere of Mars?

A)only CO₂
B)NH₃ and He
C)CO₂, NH₃, and O₂
D)H₂ and He

Question 30

Which of the solar system objects listed below is most similar to the Earth in terms of mass and density?

A)Mercury
B)the Moon
C)Venus
D)Mars

Question 31

Why is the greenhouse effect so much stronger on Venus than on Earth?

A)The atmosphere of Venus contains free oxygen.
B)The atmosphere of Venus is predominantly composed of carbon dioxide.
C)The surface of Venus converts infrared into visible radiation.
D)Venus has no active volcanoes to emit dust that could cool the planet.

Question 32

What is the evidence that Mercury has a large iron core?

A)the large lobate scarps
B)the planet's high mean density
C)the lava flows near Caloris Basin
D)iron emission lines in its spectrum

Question 33

How does the condensation hypothesis describe the Moon's origin?

A)The Moon broke off from a rapidly spinning Earth.
B)The Earth and the Moon formed from the same cloud of matter.
C)The Moon formed elsewhere in the solar nebula and was later captured by the Earth.
D)The Moon was formed when a very massive planetesimal smashed into the young Earth.

Question 34

Which hypothesis concerning the formation of the Moon makes predictions that best fit the observed lunar data?

A)the large impact hypothesis
B)the fission hypothesis
C)the capture hypothesis
D)the condensation hypothesis

Question 35

How does the large-impact hypothesis describe the Moon's origin?

A)The Moon broke off from a rapidly spinning Earth.
B)The Earth and the Moon formed from the same cloud of matter.
C)The Moon formed elsewhere in the solar nebula and was later captured by the Earth.
D)The Moon was formed when a very massive planetesimal smashed into the young Earth.

Question 36

How is the Moon's lack of a magnetic field explained?

A)The Moon is spinning too slowly to produce a magnetic field.
B)The interior of the Moon is too hot to produce a magnetic field.
C)The crust of the Moon is so thick that the magnetic field does not reach beyond the interior.
D)The Moon's core contains little if any molten iron.

Question 37

Which of the following is suggested by the flow patterns found on the surface of Mars and the number of craters on top of them?

A)Mars is a planet rich in liquid water in the present day.
B)The climate on Mars was different billions of years ago.
C)Volcanism is occurring on Mars.
D)The polar caps are made of liquid water.

Question 38

Why is the Moon no longer geologically active?

A)because it is rotating too slowly
B)because its radioactive elements were never abundant
C)because its interior has cooled
D)because it does not have water on its surface

Question 39

Which of the following,if found on Mars,would support the idea that the Martian crust is divided into moving plates like those on Earth?

A)giant impact basins
B)the most massive volcanoes in the solar system
C)dry river beds and sea floors
D)folded mountain chains

Question 40

What does the presence of breccias among the lunar rock samples show?

A)that volcanism did NOT occur on the Moon
B)that molten lava once flowed over the lunar surface
C)that water once existed on the Moon in the form of small lakes and streams
D)that the lunar surface was fragmented by meteorite impacts

Question 41

Most terrestrial planets have portions of their surface that appear to be significantly older than other portions of their surface.What evidence suggests that the surface of Venus is all about the same age?

A)Photos taken by probes that landed on Venus showed that all of the rocks were of the same age.
B)The craters on Venus are randomly distributed in size and number across the surface.
C)The volcanoes on Venus are not found in isolated groups, but are scattered around the planet.
D)The thick atmosphere of Venus has prevented erosion from taking place.

Question 42

How does the greenhouse effect produce excess heat in a planet's atmosphere?

A)by trapping infrared radiation and preventing it from escaping into space
B)by clouds blocking the surface so it doesn't receive any infrared radiation
C)by trapping light gases and preventing them from escaping into space
D)by trapping ultraviolet light in the upper atmosphere of the planet

Question 43

Besides the Earth,which of the terrestrial planets and/or satellites of terrestrial planets shows evidence for the possible existence of liquid water flowing on its surface in the past?

A)Venus
B)the Moon
C)Phobos
D)Mars

Question 44

On the diagram,label each of the major divisions of the Earth's interior.

Question 45

Mars has sufficient mass and a low enough temperature that water molecules could exist in its atmosphere as vapour.Why does the atmosphere of Mars contain little or no water vapour?

A)Mars formed in a part of the solar nebula that lacked oxygen.
B)Mars formed in a part of the solar nebula that lacked hydrogen.
C)Ultraviolet radiation breaks water molecules into less massive particles that can escape.
D)Water molecules combine readily with chlorine to form hydrochloric acid.

Question 46

Why does Mars no longer have a magnetic field?

A)Giant impacts slowed the planet's rotation.
B)Its core cooled and the dynamo effect shut off.
C)Mars does not have a dense core.
D)The thin atmosphere can't protect the planet from the solar wind.

Question 47

____________________ is responsible for absorbing ultraviolet radiation in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Question 48

The graph plots the escape velocity of several solar system objects along the vertical axis,and surface temperature along the horizontal.The lines plotted in the figure are the average speeds of gas particles as a function of temperature for various gases.Which of the objects plotted in this diagram is least able to hold an atmosphere?

A)Mars
B)the Moon
C)Mercury
D)Venus

Question 49

Which of the following is one hypothesis that has been suggested to explain the uniform age of the surface of Venus?

A)The surface of Venus is made of rocks that are much harder than the Earth's and thus last longer.
B)Venus periodically goes through a catastrophic melting of the entire surface.
C)The clouds in the atmosphere of Venus protect it from meteorites so that very few impacts occur to change its surface.
D)Dust storms deposit large amount of dust on the surface of Venus, making it appear to be of uniform age.

Question 50

What does the extremely large size of volcanoes on Mars indicate?

A)Mars has a much thicker crust than the Earth.
B)Water once flowed in streams on Mars.
C)Mars has never had a molten interior.
D)Erosion does not occur on Mars.

Question 51

Which of the following is a very long and deep canyon on Mars?

A)Valles Marineris
B)Ishtar Terra
C)Tharsis Bulge
D)Hellas Basin

Question 52

Which of the following planets has the lowest atmospheric pressure?

A)Earth
B)Mars
C)Venus
D)Mercury

Question 53

The graph plots the escape velocity of several solar system objects along the vertical axis,and surface temperature along the horizontal.The lines plotted in the figure are the average speeds of gas particles as a function of temperature for various gases.Which of the objects plotted in this diagram has the highest escape velocity?

A)Mars
B)the Moon
C)Venus
D)Earth

Question 54

Which of the answers below orders the terrestrial planets from lowest to highest atmospheric pressure at the surface?

A)Mercury, Mars, Earth, Venus
B)Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
C)Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury
D)Mars, Mercury, Venus, Earth

Question 55

What is a major difference between the Moon's near and far sides?

A)The far side has many fewer craters.
B)The far side has many fewer maria.
C)The far side has many more craters.
D)The far side has many more maria.

Question 56

In what way is Venus very different from the Earth?

A)radius
B)mass
C)density
D)surface temperature

Question 57

What is believed to be the origin of the moons of Mars?

A)They formed when a body the size of the Earth impacted with Mars early in its history.
B)They are escaped moons of Saturn.
C)They formed from material ejected from Olympus Mons and other large volcanoes on Mars.
D)They are captured asteroids.

Question 58

Which of the following has the least effect on the speed at which a planet loses its atmosphere?

A)escape velocity (determined by mass and radius)
B)temperature
C)rotation period
D)atmospheric composition

Question 59

How are the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars different?

A)The northern hemisphere is much younger.
B)The northern hemisphere is much higher.
C)The southern hemisphere is more volcanic.
D)Only the southern hemisphere has a polar cap.

Question 60

Based on our current knowledge,how does the crust of Mars compare to that of the Earth?

A)It's much thinner.
B)It contains more water.
C)It's more geologically active.
D)It's much stronger.

Question 61

____________________ is the gas molecule most responsible for the greenhouse effect on both Venus and Earth.

Question 62

The terrestrial planet with the most effective greenhouse effect is ____________________.

Question 63

Oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere is outgassed in volcanic eruptions.

Question 64

The Earth's magnetic field has reversed itself.

Question 65

The separation between Africa and Arabia is a(n)____________________ valley.

Question 66

____________________ formed as Mercury cooled and shrank.

Question 67

The terrestrial planet with the most moons is ____________________.

Question 68

The Earth's magnetic field is generated in the iron-rich mantle.

Question 69

The oldest parts of the Earth's crust are located along the midocean rifts.

Question 70

The largest satellite orbiting a terrestrial planet is ____________________.

Question 71

The largest volcano found on one of the terrestrial planets is ____________________.

Question 72

____________________ waves are seismic waves that do NOT travel through the Earth's liquid core.

Question 73

Volcanism can occur in a midocean rift,above a hot spot in the mantle,or where one tectonic plate slides below another.

Question 74

The Earth never passed through the cratering stage in planetary development.

Question 75

The atmosphere of ____________________ contains acid compounds,including sulphuric and hydrochloric acid.

Question 76

The size of the volcanoes on Mars indicates that Mars has a(n)____________________ crust than the Earth.

Question 77

The ____________________ hypothesis for the formation of the Moon suggests that the Moon and the Earth formed from the same cloud of material and coalesced as two separate objects.

Question 78

____________________ are great lava flows covering 17% of the lunar surface.

Question 79

The central part of the Earth's core is solid.

Question 80

The terrestrial planet with the oldest surface is ____________________.