AST101H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Continental Drift, Greenhouse Effect, Permafrost
Document Summary
Moon and mercury: small mases gravities too weak to hold an atmosphere no erosion to erase history suffered many huge impacts also true for earth. Small size solid interiors no continental drift. Ages of moon rocks huge impacts at beginning of the solar system. Average densities moon mostly rocks, mercury has a large metal core. Mer(cid:272)ur(cid:455)"s rotatio(cid:374) is not s(cid:455)(cid:374)(cid:272)hro(cid:374)ized to its or(cid:271)it (cid:271)e(cid:272)ause of its ellipti(cid:272)al or(cid:271)it"s (cid:448)ar(cid:455)i(cid:374)g speed. Moon: slow spin + solid, rock core no mag field. Mercury: slow spin + solid, metallic core mag field. Mars small mass but cool enough to hold atmosphere. Sunlight shines into the martian atmosphere, then scatters from the martian and passes back through the at(cid:373)osphere to us a(cid:374) e(cid:454)a(cid:373)ples of kir(cid:272)hhoff"s 3rd law(p. 118) We use spe(cid:272)tral a(cid:271)sorptio(cid:374) li(cid:374)es to ide(cid:374)tif(cid:455) the at(cid:373)osphere"s gases nearly all co2. Because mars is colder no rani to wash co2 from the atmosphere, no oceans with plants to.
