Term
| what caused the scarps found on Mercury? |
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Definition
| cooling of the planet and shrinking of the crust |
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Term
| what was the cause of the Caloris Basin? |
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Definition
| impact of a large asteroid |
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Term
| what is the current leading theory for the Moon's formation? |
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Definition
| impact of a large object with the early Earth, followed by coalescene and capture of the resulting fragments |
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Term
| relative to the size of the planet, how does the core of Mercury compare to that of Earth? |
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Definition
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Term
| why was Mercury's evolution different from that of the Moon? |
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Definition
| Mercury's core cooled and the planet shrank, causing its crust to compress and wrinkle |
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Term
| what is the average distance from Earth to the Moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| for how long has Mercury been geologically inactive? |
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Definition
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Term
| of what material is the lunar highland composed? |
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Definition
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Term
| the moon is locked in synchronous orbit with the earth, how many times does the Moon rotate every time it complete one revolution? |
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Definition
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Term
| why is the moon's crust thicker on the far side? |
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Definition
| earth's gravity pulled the moon's mantle downward toward earth |
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Term
| the wide variation in the lunar surface temperature is due to its lack of ? |
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Definition
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Term
| which of the following statement is true? |
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Definition
| the rate of cratering today decreases as crater size increases |
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Term
| which of the following is not true of both the moon and mercury? |
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Definition
| both have extensive maria |
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Term
| mercury presents the same side to the Sun once every how often? |
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Definition
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Term
| how does the diameter of a crater compare to the diameter of the impactor? |
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Definition
| the crater is 10 times as large as the impactor |
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Term
| the scarps on mercury were probably caused by |
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Definition
| the interior cooling and shrinking |
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Term
| which of these theories seems to best explain the moon's origin? |
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Definition
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Term
| mercury's evolution was different from the moon's because |
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Definition
| dense mercury had an iron core that shrank, creating the lobate scraps |
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Term
| both the moon and mercury are geologically inactive and have been that way for most of the history of the solar system, however, about 4 billion years ago, it is though that |
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Definition
| mercury had more common volcanic activity than the moon |
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Term
| what is true of the moon's orbital and rotational periods? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| shows that most interplanetary debris was swept up soon after the formation of the solar system. |
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Term
| the average rate of erosion on the moon is far less than on earth because |
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Definition
| the moon lacks wind, water and an atmosphere |
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Term
| statement about the rotations of the moon and mercury is false |
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Definition
| like our moon, mercury does not rotate at all, keeping the same side facing the sun |
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Term
| what is true of the lunar highlands? |
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Definition
| they are the oldest part of the lunar surface |
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Term
| mercury experiences extreme high and low temperatures between night and day because |
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Definition
| it has no atmosphere to moderate temperatures over the globe |
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Term
| Longest to shortest orbital period |
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Definition
| earth's orbital, moon's orbital = moon's rotation period, earth's rotation period |
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Term
| Earth and Moon formed at about the same time out of the same pre-planetary matter according to what |
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Definition
| coformation (or sister) theory |
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Term
| States that the moon formed far from earth and later became gravitationally bound by earth after a close encounter |
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Definition
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Term
| a glancing collision between a large, Mars-sized object and a youthful, molten earth led to formation of the moon according to the |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| the moon and earth should have very similar compositions |
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Term
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Definition
mathematical models would need to predict that the capture of a moon sized satellite would be likely in earth's early history.
the moon and earth should have completely different compositions. |
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Term
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Definition
computer simulations would need to predict that a collision between earth and a mars-sized object would produce a moon-sized satellite with a stable orbit.
the moon and earth should have similar mantle compositions, but other parts of their compositions should be dissimilar. |
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Term
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Definition
-earth has large iron core, the moon does not
-the mantles of earth and the moon have similar compositions
-computer simulations predict that a collision between earth and a mars-sized object would produce a moon-sized satellite with a stable orbit |
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Term
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Definition
| -iron core of earth forms. - mars-sized object collides with earth. - if the mars-sized object has an iron core, most or all of it is left behind on earth, and merges with earth's core. - the moon forms out of rocky debris ejected from earth during the collision. |
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Term
| low elevations, few craters, flat regions |
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Definition
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Term
| high elevations, highly cratered, mountainous regions |
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Definition
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