RANDY L. PHELPS

This is the Planetary Interiors Module

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Procedure

1.  For this module, please look through the "lecture" notes for  "Planetary Interiors"  These notes contain the material, in condensed form, that I will expect you to become familiar with.  I am sure you will have questions about the material, especially since it is presented in the form of lecture notes.  To help you fill in the blanks, I have added web links below to gain further insight into select portions of the material. 

2. Be sure to read Chapters 12 and 14 in "The New Solar System"

3.  Web-links you should investigate:

Goals

Upon completing this assignment, you should be comfortable with the following material:

• What techniques that we have learned allow us to study the interiors of the planets?
• Evolution of planetary interiors: How did Mercury evolve to its present state? What are the similarities and differences between the interiors of Earth and Venus? How can the surface features of Mars be explained by processes in its interior?
• What do the surfaces of the Galilean satellites tell us of their interiors?
• What are the interiors of the so-called "Gas Giants" like?

After you have completed this assignment, you should be able to answer these, and similar questions:

• What physical characteristics of the 2 planets lead us to believe that Earth and Venus should have similar interiors?
• If Venus and Earth have similar interiors, why does one have a magnetic field, while one does not?
• Venus has an abundance of volcanoes.  What does this suggest about its interior?
• The "continents" on Venus are not high by Earth standards, nor are there "coastal mountain ranges".  What does this suggest about the interior of Venus as far as its crustal region is concerned?
• What were the surfaces of Venus and the Earth like (solid, liquid, gas) some 4.5 billion years ago, as these planets were first forming? 
• How long ago would iron have drained from the mantles of Earth and Venus to form their cores?  During that time, what fraction (small, medium, large) of the mantle was molten?
• What observation revealed the moon to have mass concentrations (mascons) below its surface?
• Seismic observations from the Moon reveal a highly fractured crust.  What caused this fracturing?
• According to our current ideas, how was the Moon formed?
• The Moon does not have a large magnetic field?  What, if anything, does this say about its interior?
• The scarps on Mercury are thought to be a result of an event(s) related to its interior.   What event(s) explain the scarps?
• Olympus Mons and the Hawaiian Islands tell us that the interiors of Earth and Mars are different in what way?
• Mars does not have a large magnetic field?  What, if anything, does this say about its interior?
• Active volcanoes occur on Io, but not on the other Galilean satellites.  What causes Io's interior to be molten?
• Surface features on Europa have been used to infer its interior properties. What is its interior thought to be like?
• Ganymede and Callisto are located farther from Jupiter.   What does this suggest about their interiors?
• Beneath the cloud layers of the outer planets, the interiors are thought to be composed primarily of which, solids, liquids, or more gases?

These questions, and similar ones, will form the basis of  the exam material for this section of the course.  If you have problems with the material, please see me.   If you are unable to answer some of the questions, I will help you before the date specified on the syllabus, provided you show me the results of your inquiry into the material.

That is, you must provide me the answers you we able to obtain for all questions, including your attempts at problem questions, before I will help you with any of them!   

In other words, for me to provide you with help with the questions, you must show me that you have undertaken a good-faith-effort to find the answers yourself, in a timely manner.

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