Deck 7: The Terrestrial Planets and Earths Moon

Question 1

Earth's magnetic axis and its spin axis are not aligned.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The Mars rovers named Spirit and Opportunity found evidence in the chemical makeup of the rocks that proves Mars had liquid water on its surface in the past.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The center of Earth is hotter than the surface of the Sun.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The interior of the Earth is hot mainly because of the pressure induced by the weight of the material above it.

Question 5

The maria on the Moon's surface are approximately 1 billion years younger than the rest of its surface.

Question 6

Mars has many large shield volcanoes probably because its core is colder than the Earth's core.

Question 7

On Mars,water ice is present primarily in its polar ice caps.

Question 8

Which object would have the largest impact if it were to strike the Earth?

A) a 10-kg rock moving at 100 m/s
B) a 100-kg rock moving at 100 m/s
C) a 100-kg asteroid rock moving at 1 m/s
D) a 1,000-kg asteroid moving at 10 m/s

Question 9

Volcanoes on Earth typically occur in the middle of oceans where two tectonic plates move farther apart.

Question 10

Which object would have the largest impact if it were to strike the Earth?

A) a 1 m-diameter asteroid moving at 100 m/s
B) a 1 m-diameter comet moving at 100 m/s
C) a 5 m-diameter comet moving at 10 m/s
D) a 5 m-diameter asteroid moving at 10 m/s

Question 11

The oldest rocks on the Earth are approximately 4.5 billion years old.

Question 12

Primary waves are seismic longitudinal waves whose paths are deflected when they travel through the Earth's liquid core.

Question 13

All the terrestrial planets show evidence of disruptions due to tectonics.

Question 14

There are two main forces that shape a planet's surface: impacts and plate tectonics.

Question 15

The asteroid or comet that impacted Earth and either caused or hastened the extinction of 70 percent of all living species on Earth happened approximately 650 thousand years ago.

Question 16

Permanent magnetism in the Earth's solid iron core is the source of Earth's magnetic field.

Question 17

The smoother,less cratered surfaces of the Moon resulted from those areas being protected by the Moon's proximity to Earth.

Question 18

The interior of the Earth is differentiated because it cooled very quickly.

Question 19

The lithosphere of a planet is

A) the molten layer under the crust.
B) the layer of the atmosphere in which clouds form.
C) the upper layer of its atmosphere.
D) its solid surface.

Question 20

Convection cannot take place in the Earth's mantle because it is not molten.

Question 21

Which of the following will NOT be a consequence of Earth's consumption of the bulk of its radioactive "fuel" in the future?

A) Earth will spin more slowly on its axis.
B) The interior of the planet will solidify.
C) Volcanic activity will cease.
D) Continental drift will no longer occur.

Question 22

Suppose an earthquake occurs on an imaginary planet.Scientists on the other side of the planet detect primary waves but not secondary waves after the quake occurs.This suggests that

A) part of the planet's interior is liquid.
B) all of the planet's interior is solid.
C) the planet has an iron core.
D) the planet's interior consists entirely of rocky materials.

Question 23

If you obtained a sample of rock from Venus and determined the abundances of and in it,and found that for every 1 uranium atom there were 3 lead atoms,then what would the age of this rock be? Note that decays to with a half-life of 700 million years.Assume that there was no in the rock when it originally formed.

A) 1.4 billion years
B) 2.8 billion years
C) 230 million years
D) 4.5 billion years

Question 24

Compared to the dark-colored regions on the surface of the Moon,the light-colored regions are approximately

A) 1 billion years older.
B) 1 billion years younger.
C) 1 million years older.
D) 1 million years younger.

Question 25

Differentiation refers to materials that are separate based on their

A) weight.
B) mass.
C) volume.
D) density.

Question 26

The smallest craters are found on

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

Question 27

Based on the number of impact craters observed per square meter on their surface,place these terrestrial planets in order of youngest to oldest surface:

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

Question 28

To cause continent-wide damage to Earth's surface,an asteroid impacting Earth must be

A) at least 1 meter in size.
B) at least 10 meters in size.
C) at least 1 kilometer in size.
D) at least 1,000 kilometers in size.

Question 29

Studies of the amount of cratering at different locations on the Moon indicate that

A) the rate of cratering in the Solar System has changed dramatically over time.
B) the younger lunar surfaces are hundreds of billions of years younger than the oldest surfaces.
C) the Moon has never been geologically active at any point in its history.
D) most of the heavy cratering in the Solar System occurred before Earth formed.

Question 30

What is the best explanation for the heating of Earth's interior today?

A) The tidal effects of the moon
B) Seismic waves that traverse Earth's core
C) Decay of radioactive elements
D) Convective motions in the mantle

Question 31

Based on the age of the light- and dark-colored regions of the Moon and the number of craters observed in these regions,we know that impacts in the inner Solar System

A) rapidly decreased approximately 3 billion years ago.
B) rapidly decreased approximately 1 billion years ago.
C) were very rare in the last 4.5 billion years.
D) occurred at approximately a constant rate throughout most of the age of the Solar System.

Question 32

Mars has a diameter that is approximately half that of Earth's.If the interiors of these planets are heated by radioactive decays,how does the heating rate of Mars' interior compare to that of Earth's?

A) Mars' heating rate is 0.12 times that of Earth's.
B) Mars' heating rate is 8 times that of the Earth's.
C) Mars' heating rate is 0.5 times that of Earth's.
D) Mars' heating rate is 4 times that of the Earth's.

Question 33

Mars,Venus,and Earth are much less heavily cratered than Mercury and the Moon.This is explained by the fact that

A) the rate of cratering in the early Solar System was strongly dependent on location.
B) all three have thick,protective atmospheres.
C) Earth and Venus were shielded from impacts by the Moon,and Mars was protected by the asteroid belt.
D) Mars,Venus,and Earth were geologically active longer than Mercury and the Moon.

Question 34

If a radioactive element has a half-life of 10,000 years,what fraction of it is left in a rock after 40,000 years?

A) One-half
B) One-fourth
C) One-eighth
D) One-sixteenth

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a factor that helps explain Earth's lack of craters compared to the Moon?

A) Wind erosion
B) Larger atmosphere
C) Higher density interior
D) Liquid water on surface

Question 36

According to studies of impact cratering,which of the terrestrial planets has the oldest surface?

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

Question 37

Earth's innermost core is solid,not liquid,because

A) the core temperature is too low to melt iron.
B) differentiation caused all of the heavy,solid material to sink to the bottom while Earth was forming.
C) all the liquid has moved up into the mantle via convection.
D) the pressure is too high for a liquid state.

Question 38

The age of the Solar System can be determined most accurately by

A) measuring the number of craters per square meter on Mercury.
B) radioactive dating of rocks retrieved from the Moon.
C) carbon dating of rocks from mountains on the Earth.
D) measurement of the magnetic field variations on the sea floor.

Question 39

Flows of material surrounding Martian craters suggest

A) volcanism in its interior.
B) the presence of water in surface rocks.
C) active plate tectonics at the time of impact.
D) a very thin crust.

Question 40

The fact that Earth's interior is differentiated suggests that

A) it formed first from denser material and then afterward accreted lighter material.
B) it has both a liquid and solid core.
C) it was liquid at some point in the past.
D) only the crust is solid;the rest of Earth's interior is liquid.

Question 41

The dynamo theory says that a planet will have a strong magnetic field if it has

A) fast rotation and a solid core.
B) slow rotation and a liquid core.
C) fast rotation and a liquid core.
D) slow rotation and a solid core.

Question 42

Continental drift occurs at a typical rate of a few

A) mm/year.
B) cm/year.
C) m/year.
D) km/year.

Question 43

Which of the following are sites of volcanic activity on Earth?

A) Local hot spots
B) Spreading centers
C) Subduction zones
D) All of the above

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT a requirement for a planetary magnetic dynamo?

A) Rapid rotation
B) Solid iron core
C) Convective motions
D) Electrically conducting liquid in the core

Question 45

The rovers named Spirit and Opportunity that recently explored Mars' surface discovered

A) minerals that must have formed in an environment rich in liquid water.
B) tiny streams of flowing water too small to be detected by orbiting satellites.
C) dust storms that rapidly erode the surfaces of most geological formations.
D) the northern polar ice cap is made primarily of frozen carbon dioxide.

Question 46

What are the four main processes that shape the surfaces of the terrestrial planets?

Question 47

Based on the assumption that a liquid,conducting core and rapid rotation are both required for a magnetic dynamo to operate,which terrestrial planets would you expect to have magnetic fields?

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

Question 48

Which terrestrial planet shows the least evidence of recent volcanic activity?

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

Question 49

The largest volcanic mountains in the Solar System are found on

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

Question 50

Give a specific example of impacts of asteroids/comets that have happened on Earth.Why are impact craters rare on the surface of Earth,but plentiful on the Moon?

Question 51

The North American plate and the Pacific plate are sliding past one another at a rate of approximately 3 cm/year.San Francisco,which is located on the edge of the North American plate,is sliding southward toward Los Angles,which is located on the Pacific Plate.If they are currently separated by a distance of 600 km,how many years will it take for the two cities to meet?

A) 3 million years
B) 300,000 years
C) 20 million years
D) 20,000 years

Question 52

We have direct evidence for the current existence of water on the surface of which terrestrial object?

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

Question 53

Name the terrestrial planets in order of increasing distance from the Sun.What are the terrestrial planets in order of increasing geologic age of their surface?

Question 54

What would you study in order to determine the timescale on which the Earth's magnetic field reverses direction?

A) a spreading center on the sea floor
B) a volcano in the middle of a continental plate
C) a fault at the border between two plates
D) a subduction zone on the sea floor

Question 55

We suspect that Mars once had liquid water on its surface because

A) mapping satellites have detected dry river beds.
B) rovers have detected minerals that must have formed in the presence of liquid water.
C) mapping satellites have detected outflow channels coming from impact craters.
D) All of the above

Question 56

Plate tectonics is NOT responsible for the formation of

A) mountain ranges.
B) canyons.
C) volcanoes.
D) ocean trenches.

Question 57

What are two materials present in the K-T boundary that support the idea that a 10 km-wide asteroid or comet hit the Yucatán peninsula and caused or accelerated the extinction of 70 percent of all living species on the Earth? Explain where these two materials came from.How long ago did this happen?

Question 58

Which of the following does NOT contribute to the large size of Mars' volcanoes?

A) Absence of plate tectonics
B) Lack of atmosphere
C) Lower gravity (compared to Earth)
D) This is a trick question.None of these factors contributes to the formation of large volcanoes.

Question 59

If the Himalaya mountain range is presently 8,000 m in height and is rising at a rate of 0.5 m per century because of the convergence of two continental plates,how long did it take to create this mountain range?

A) 1,600 years
B) 160,000 years
C) 1.6 million years
D) 160 million years

Question 60

Erosion on the surface of the Moon is primarily caused by

A) flowing water.
B) wind.
C) solar radiation.
D) dust storms.

Question 61

Describe one form of tectonic disruption on Mercury,Venus,and Mars,respectively,and how they formed.

Question 62

Describe the difference between seismic primary and secondary waves and why this difference makes them useful in probing the structure of the Earth's interior.

Question 63

How do we know that Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times in the past?

Question 64

The American and African/European continents are now separated by the Atlantic Ocean,which is approximately 4,000 km wide.Assuming a continental drift rate of 2 cm/year,how long has it been since they were one landmass?

Question 65

Describe two reasons why Earth's magnetic field cannot be a result of permanent magnetism.

Question 66

How does the radioactive heating of Earth vary from when it was first formed 4.6 billion years ago until today?

Question 67

Which planet would you expect to have a larger molten core,a planet of Earth's size or a planet that had half the radius of Earth? Explain why.

Question 68

If you obtained a sample of Martian rock,determined the abundances of and in it,and found that for every 1 uranium atom there were 7 lead atoms,then what would the age of this rock be? Note that decays to with a half-life of 700 million years.Assume that there was no in the rock when it originally formed.

Question 69

Which is denser,the mantle of Earth or its crust? Explain why.

Question 70

Suppose you had samples of the same kind of rock from two planets that were completely identical except that the interior of one was chemically differentiated and the interior of the other was not.How would you expect the samples to differ from each other?

Question 71

How are the volcanoes on Venus and Mars different from the volcanoes on the Earth? What might explain this difference?