Mecury, Venus, and Mars

Mercury, Venus and Mars

Answers

MERCURY

1. 36 million (58 million km), 88

2.   a. new
      b. full
      c. quarter
3. craters

4. Mariner 10

5. latitude

6. two

7. two, three

8. Caloris (the Caloris basin)

9. longitude

10. The Mariner 10 orbital period of 178 days equaled twice the revolutionary period of Mercury. In that time, Mercury made exactly three rotations, presenting exactly the same face towards the sun for photography by Mariner 10.

11. eastward (counterclockwise), CLOCKWISE

12. east, west

13. east, move backwards (retrograde), west

14. a. Moon: C, A, B, E, D
      b. Mercury: C, A, E, B, D

15. GREATER, differentiated

16. DECREASES, wrinkles

17. lobate scarps

18. It rotates too slowly. Its nickel-iron core may be solid.

19. solidified, remnant

VENUS

20. earth, rapid enough rotation

21. solar wind, NO

22. a. Train approaches: high pitch
      b. Train recedes: lower pitch

23. Doppler shift

24. SHORTENED, HIGHER, frequency

25. lower

26. electromagnetic, radio waves (microwaves), TOWARDS, AWAY, rotated

27. volcanism

28. a. nitrogen                 d. sulfur dioxide
      b. argon                     e. water
      c. carbon dioxide       f. carbon monoxide

29. carbon dioxide, 900° F (500° C)

30. raining, photodissociated, oxygen

31. same

32. greenhouse effect

33. visible, infrared

34. 90

35. EXPAND, LESS, convection

36. aside the overlying layers of atmosphere and rise.

37. sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide

38. temperatures, temperature

39. equator, poles, ONE

40. rotation

41. CALM, four days, DIRECTION

42. delays, SHORTER

43. Magellan

44. FLAT (Rolling hills account for about 60% of Venus' surface, while lowlands are about 30%, and mountainous terrain about 10%)

45. YOUNG

46. BRIGHTER, darker

47. bright, dark

48. atmosphere (90 times the pressure of earth? atmosphere)

49. hot spot

50. igneous, sedimentary

MARS

51. a. similar axial tilt                               d. canals
      b. observable seasonal changes          e. similar rotational period
      c. polar caps

52. Lowell, life

53. canals

54. Viking, organic

55. an increase in the amount of oxygen in the chamber due to photosynthesis. There was a marginally positive response.

56. waste gases would contain C14 which could be detected in the atmosphere of the chamber via a Geiger counter. The experiment gave a spiked positive response which was not present after other soil samples were sterilized by preheating.

57. ultraviolet, Upon heating the chamber, the metabolized C14 would have been released and could have been detected with a Geiger counter. This experiment gave a negative response.

58. The possibility of life on Mars still cannot be completely ruled out. However, the probability that Mars does have life has been diminished in the minds of scientists who studied the results of the Viking biology experiments. The absence of organic molecules in the Martian soil was the most significant blow to the life theory.

59. meteorite

60. the moon (Mariner 4--1965), 6 and 7--1969). Mercury could also be an arguable answer.

61. volcanoes, river-like channels

62. moon, earth

63. a. dendritic (root-like) channels
      b. outwashing from slumped regions
      c. teardrop shaped features
      d. braided flowage patterns
      e. craters surrounded by mud-like outflows
64. streaked patterns, sand dunes, changes in albedo due to dust covering and uncovering areas of the planet

65. magma

66. volcanoes

67. Olympus Mons, caldera, collapsed

68. LOW

69. sink into the mantle (asthenosphere) of earth, thicker

70. Valles Marineris, continental drift or plate tectonics

71. carbon dioxide

72. infrared, density--thinness of the Martian atmosphere…. There are simply       less air molecules to absorb the heat which is radiated back towards space       from the Martian surface. Mars is also much farther from the sun, so it       receives much less energy than Venus.

73. CO2, CO2, DECREASES, INCREASES, SUMMER