Planetary Geology Lab Final Review
By: hannahcworkman • December 5, 2016 • Lab Report • 597 Words (3 Pages) • 1,214 Views
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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