Exam 7: Earth and the Terrestrial Worlds

The choices below describe four hypothetical planets. Which one would you expect to have the hottest interior? (Assume the planets orbit a star just like the Sun and that they are all the same age as the planets in our solar system.)

Why does Earth have so little carbon dioxide in its atmosphere compared to Venus?

Which of the following best describes the lunar maria?

How did the lunar maria form?

Sunsets are red because sunlight must pass through more atmosphere then, and the atmosphere scatters even more light at bluer wavelengths, leaving mostly red light to color the sky.

What is the most important factor that determines the thickness, and therefore strength, of the lithosphere?

Of the four gases CO₂, H₂O, N₂, and O₂, which are greenhouse gases?

Briefly describe how the solar wind affects magnetospheres and how auroras are produced.

Public Policy Informed by Science: Research the Montreal Protocol (1987) that led to a world-wide ban in the use of chlorofluorocarbon compounds (CFCs). What was the scientific case for the ban? Why do you think such coordinated, world-wide action was possible in this case, yet a global consensus has not emerged on how to respond to the challenge of climate change?

Today, Mars has virtually no magnetic field.

The cores of the terrestrial worlds are made mostly of metal because ________.

Why are there fewer large impact craters on the Earth's seafloor than on the continents?

Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to have plate tectonics.

Why is the sky blue (on Earth)?

Based on its surface features, the most important event on Venus in the past billion years or so was ________.

Why is continental crust lower in density than seafloor crust?

All of the statements below are true. Which one gives the primary reason why the surface of Venus today is some 450∘ C hotter than the surface of Earth?

Earth and Venus both presumably had similar gases outgassed from their volcanoes. Briefly explain how their atmospheres ended up so different.

Which of the following does not provide evidence that Mars once had abundant liquid water on its surface?

Why is Mars red?