22

Touring Our Solar

System*
Focus on Concepts
Each statement represents the primary learning objective for the
corresponding major heading within the chapter. After you complete
the chapter, you should be able to:

22.1 Describe the formation of the solar system according to

the nebular theory. Compare and contrast the terrestrial
and Jovian planets.
22.2 List and describe the major features of Earth’s Moon and
explain how maria basins were formed.
22.3 Outline the principal characteristics of Mercury, Venus,
and Mars. Describe their similarities to and differences
from Earth.
22.4 Summarize and compare the features of Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune, including their ring systems.
22.5 List and describe the principal characteristics of the small
bodies that inhabit the solar system.

*This chapter was revised with the assistance of Professors

Teresa Tarbuck and Mark Watry.

This selfie of the Curiosity rover as it moves up the slopes of

Mount Sharp on Mars is a composite of several images captured
by a camera located at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
(Photo courtesy of NASA)

661

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 Planetary scientists study the formation and evolution
of the bodies in our solar system and beyond—including the eight planets and myriad smaller objects, such
as moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Studying these objects provides valuable
insights into the dynamic processes that operate on Earth. Understanding how other atmospheres evolve
helps scientists build better models for predicting climate change. In addition, seeing how erosional forces
work on other bodies allows us to observe the many ways landscapes are created. Finally, the uniqueness
of Earth, a body that harbors life, is revealed through the exploration of other planetary bodies.

22.1 Our Solar System: An Overview

Describe the formation of the solar system according to the nebular theory. Compare and contrast
the terrestrial and Jovian planets.

The Sun is the center of a revolving system, ­t rillions contained within the Sun. Collectively, the p
­ lanets
of miles wide, consisting of eight planets, their satel- account for most of the remaining 0.15 percent.
lites, and numerous smaller bodies—dwarf planets, ­Starting from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus,
asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. An estimated Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
99.85 p ­ ercent of the mass of our solar system is (Figure 22.1).
SmartFigure 22.1 A.
Planetary orbits Kuiper belt
A. Artistic view of the solar
system; the planets are
not drawn to scale. B. The
distances of the planets
from the Sun and relative
sizes of the planets shown Neptune
using two different scales.
The distances are given in
astronomical units (AU),
where 1 AU is equal to the Uranus
mean distance from Earth Asteroid belt
to the Sun—150 million Sun Mercury Venus
Earth
kilometers (93 million miles).
If the Sun and planets
were shown at the scale
used for the distances,
they would be about
Mars
5000 times smaller than
Jupiter
illustrated here.

Tutorial Saturn
[Link]

B. Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars

SUN

Neptune Uranus Saturn Jupiter

30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Distance in astronomical units (AU)
662

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 663

Tethered to the Sun by gravity, the planets travel often referred to as interstellar dust. As this enormous
in the same direction, on slightly elliptical orbits; those cloud of dust and gases collapsed, gravitational energy
nearest the Sun travel fastest (Table 22.1). Mercury has was converted into energy of motion and into thermal
the highest orbital velocity, 48 kilometers (30 miles) per energy, causing the contracting gases to greatly increase
second, and the shortest period of revolution around the in temperature. Most of the material in the solar nebula
Sun, 88 Earth days. By contrast, Neptune has an orbital collected in the center, where temperatures were hottest,
speed of just 5.3 kilometers (3.3 miles) per second and forming the protosun.
requires 165 Earth-years to complete one revolution. As the solar nebula collapsed, it also spun faster
Most large bodies orbit the Sun approximately in the and faster, as happens when ice skaters pull their arms
same plane. The planets’ inclination with respect to the in as they spin. The rotational motion caused some of
Earth–Sun orbital plane, known as the ecliptic, is shown the material to form a flattened, rotating disk that sur-
in Table 22.1. rounded the hot protosun. Within this rotating disk,
matter gradually cooled and condensed into tiny metallic
Nebular Theory: Formation grains and clumps of icy and rocky material. Repeated
collisions resulted in most of that material clumping
of the Solar System together into increasingly larger chunks that eventually
The nebular theory, which describes the formation of became boulder-sized objects called planetesimals,
the solar system, proposes that the Sun and the planets which means “pieces of planets.” The largest planetesi-
formed from the same rotating cloud of interstellar gases, mals grew rapidly because of their stronger gravitational
called the solar nebula. Much of what we know about the attraction and quickly became hundreds of kilometers in
formation of the Sun and other stars comes from observ- diameter.
ing regions in which stars are forming currently. In all The compositions of the planetesimals were deter-
cases, star formation occurs within expansive interstel- mined largely by their proximity to the protosun. As you
lar clouds (see Section 24.2, page 721). Based on this might expect, temperatures were highest in the inner
observation, we conclude that the solar nebula began solar system and decreased toward the outer edge of
as a slowly rotating cloud of cold, mostly gaseous mate- the rotating disk. Between the 88-day orbit of Mercury
rial composed of over 98 percent hydrogen and helium; and the 687-day orbit of Mars, the planetesimals were
all other elements combined made up less than 2 percent composed mainly of materials with high melting tem-
of the total. The solid material consisted of tiny grains peratures—metals and rocky substances. In this region,

Table 22.1 Planetary Data

Mean Distance from Sun Orbital Velocity
Millions of Millions of Inclination of
Planet Symbol AU* Miles Kilometers Orbital Period Orbit mi/s km/s
Mercury • 0.39 36 58 88 days 7°00′ 29.5 47.5
Venus • 0.72 67 108 245 days 3°24′ 21.8 35.0
Earth { 1.00 93 150 365.25 days 0°00′ 18.5 29.8
Mars • 1.52 142 248 687 days 1°51′ 14.9 24.1
Jupiter ♃ 5.20 483 778 12 years 1°18′ 8.1 13.1
Saturn • 9.54 886 1427 30 years 2°29′ 6.0 9.6
Uranus • 19.18 1783 2870 84 years 0°46′ 4.2 6.8
Neptune ° 30.06 2794 4497 165 years 1°46′ 3.3 5.3
Period of Diameter Number
Rotation Relative Mass Average Polar of Known
Planet Around Axis Miles Kilometers (Earth = 1) Density (g/cm3) Flattening (%) Eccentricity** Satellites†
Mercury 59 days 3015 4878 0.06 5.4 0.0 0.206 0
Venus 243 days 7526 12,104 0.82 5.2 0.0 0.007 0
Earth 23h56m04s 7920 12,756 1.00 5.5 0.3 0.017 1

Mars 24h37m23s 4216 6794 0.11 3.9 0.5 0.093 2

Jupiter h
9 56 m 88,700 143,884 317.87 1.3 6.7 0.048 67

Saturn 10 30h m 75,000 120,536 95.14 0.7 10.4 0.056 62

Uranus 17h14m 29,000 51,118 14.56 1.2 2.3 0.047 27

Neptune 16 07h m 28,900 50,530 17.21 1.7 1.8 0.009 14

*AU = astronomical unit, Earth’s mean distance from the Sun

**Eccentricity is a measure of the amount an orbit deviates from a circular shape. The larger the number, the less circular the orbit.
†Includes all satellites discovered as of July 2016. Satellites are celestial bodies that orbit a planet rather than orbiting a star like the Sun.

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 664 Earth Science

through repeated collisions and accretion, these asteroid- The Planets: Internal Structures
sized rocky bodies combined to form four protoplanets
that eventually became the terrestrial planets Mercury,
and Atmospheres
Venus, Earth, and Mars. The planets fall into two groups, based on location,
By contrast, the gas giants—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, size, and density: the terrestrial (Earth-like) p ­ lanets
and Neptune—have orbital periods that range from about (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the Jovian
12 to 165 years and contain more than 150 times the mass ­( Jupiter-like) planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
of the terrestrial planets. These planets accreted from Neptune). Because of their locations relative to the
planetesimals that originated beyond the orbit of Mars Sun, the four terrestrial planets are also known as inner
(beyond the frost line), where temperatures were low ­planets, and the four Jovian planets are known as outer
enough so compounds that remained gases in the inner planets. A correlation exists between planetary locations
solar system condensed to form ices. As a result, these and sizes: The inner planets are substantially smaller than
planetesimals contained high percentages of ices—mainly the outer planets, also called gas giants. For example,
ices of water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and methane—as Neptune (the smallest Jovian planet) has nearly 4 times
well as smaller amounts of rocky and metallic debris. The the diameter and 17 times the mass of Earth or Venus.
fact that the outer reaches of the solar system contained Other properties that differ among the planets include
much larger quantities of ices than metallic and rocky density, chemical composition, orbital period, and number
material accounts in part for the large sizes and low den- of satellites (see Table 22.1). Variations in the chemical
sities of the outer planets. The two most massive planets, compositions of planets are largely responsible for their
Jupiter and Saturn, also had surface gravities sufficient to density differences. The average density of the terrestrial
attract and retain even large quantities of hydrogen and planets, which consist mainly of rock and metal, is about
helium gas, the lightest elements. 5 times the density of water, whereas the average density
During the first few hundred million years of its of the Jovian planets, with a high proportion of hydrogen,
existence, the solar system had a dynamic and violent helium, and low-density compounds, is only 1.5 times that
history. This was a period of intense bombardment as of water. In fact, Saturn has a density only 0.7 times that
the planets cleared their orbits by collecting much of the of water, which means it would float in a sufficiently large
remaining leftover material. The “scars” of this period are tank of water. The outer planets are also characterized by
still evident on the Moon’s surface. Because of the gravi- long orbital periods and numerous satellites.
tational effect of the planets, particularly Jupiter, small Recall from Chapter 5 that shortly after Earth
bodies were flung into planet-crossing orbits or interstel- formed, segregation of material formed three major layers,
lar space. The small fraction of interplanetary matter that defined by their chemical composition—the crust, man-
survived this violent period became either asteroids or tle, and core. This type of chemical differentiation also
comets, the latter residing mainly in the outer reaches of occurred in the other planets, but because the terrestrial
the solar system. planets are compositionally different from the Jovian plan-
Despite the fact that the nebular theory success- ets, the nature of these layers differs as well (Figure 22.2).
fully accounts for nearly all of the major features of the
solar system, recent discoveries have led some p ­ lanetary Interiors of Terrestrial Planets The terrestrial planets
scientists to conclude that the nebular model may are dense, having relatively large cores composed mainly
need some tweaking. In particular, based on thousands of iron and nickel. Based on seismological evidence, we
of exoplanets (worlds that orbit other stars; see Section know that Earth’s outer core is molten. We also know
12.1, page 374) discovered by surveys, such as NASA’s that Earth’s strong magnetic field is generated by convec-
Kepler mission, planetary scientists began to realize tion within the molten outer core, aided by moderately
that solar systems that resemble ours are relatively rare. rapid planetary rotation.
Many of the first-known exoplanets were “hot Jupiters,” Mars’s core is thought to be partially molten but not
gas giants speeding around their stars with orbital hot enough to support convection; as a result, Mars lacks
periods of a few days. Furthermore, of the planetary a magnetic field. Venus does not have a magnetic field
systems discovered thus far, most contain one or more either, even though its core is thought to have a molten
“super Earths” (planets a few times larger than Earth) metallic layer much like Earth’s. Presumably, it lacks a
with orbital periods of less than 100 days. Recall that magnetic field either because the core is not hot enough
Mercury, the runt of the solar system and the innermost to drive convection or because the planet’s 243-day
planet, has an orbit of 88 days. rotation period is too slow to generate a magnetic field.
How do giant planets end up in scorching proximity Researchers were surprised to discover that Mercury,
to a star, where ices can’t possibly exist? Why does the despite its small size and slow 59-day period of rota-
inner solar system lack super Earths that orbit close to tion, possesses a measurable magnetic field, albeit only
the Sun? Finding answers to these and other questions 1 ­percent the strength of Earth’s. This may be the result
related to the development of our solar system will give of Mercury’s partially molten metallic core, which is
planetary scientists much to contemplate. unusually large compared to the size of the planet.

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 665

Silicate minerals and other lighter compounds make TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

up the mantles of the terrestrial planets. Finally, the sili-
cate crusts of terrestrial planets are relatively thin com-
pared to their mantles.

Interiors of the Jovian Planets The two largest Jovian

planets, Jupiter and Saturn, likely have small, solid cores Moon
consisting of iron compounds, like the cores of the ter- Mercury Mars
restrial planets, and rocky material similar to Earth’s
Key Venus Earth
mantle. Progressing outward, the layer above the core Rocky crust
consists of liquid hydrogen that is under extremely high Rocky mantle
temperatures and pressures. Substantial evidence indi- Metallic core
cates that under these conditions, hydrogen behaves like JOVIAN PLANETS
a metal in that its electrons move freely about and effi-
ciently conduct both heat and electricity. Jupiter’s intense
magnetic field is thought to be the result of electric cur-
rents flowing within a spinning layer of liquid metallic
hydrogen. Saturn’s magnetic field is much weaker than
Jupiter’s, due to its smaller shell of liquid metallic hydro-
gen. Above this metallic layer, scientists believe both
Uranus Neptune
Jupiter and Saturn are composed of molecular liquid
hydrogen intermixed with helium. The outermost layer is Saturn
Jupiter Key for Uranus/Neptune
a gaseous atmosphere consisting mainly of hydrogen and Visible clouds
helium, along with small amounts of water, ammonia, Key for Jupiter/Saturn Gaseous hydrogen/helium
methane, and other substances. Visible clouds Ices (water/methane)
Gaseous hydrogen/helium Rocky/iron core
Uranus and Neptune also have small iron-rich rocky Liquid molecular hydrogen
cores, but their mantles are likely hot, dense water, Liquid metallic hydrogen
Rocky/iron core Figure 22.2 Comparing
internal structures of the
Airless worlds have relatively warm surface planets
methane, and ammonia. Like Jupiter and
temperatures and/or weak gravities.
Saturn, they have atmospheres dominated
Airless bodies by hydrogen and helium.

The Atmospheres of the Planets The

Mercury Jovian planets have very thick atmospheres
Venus
composed mainly of hydrogen and helium,
Moon Earth with lesser amounts of water, methane,
Solar heating (temperature)

Mars ammonia, and other hydrogen compounds.

Galilean Jupiter By contrast, the terrestrial planets, including
Asteroids moons Earth, have relatively meager atmospheres
Europa
that are typically dominated by carbon diox-
Saturn
Titan ide or nitrogen, and most small solar system
bodies are airless. Two factors explain these
Uranus significant differences: solar heating (tem-
Charon Triton
perature) and gravity (Figure 22.3). These
Pluto Neptune
variables determine what planetary gases,
if any, were captured by the planets during
the formation of the solar system and which
were ultimately retained.
Bodies with an atmosphere

SmartFigure 22.3 Bodies with Tutorial

Bodies with significant atmospheres have low atmospheres versus airless bodies Airless [Link]
surface temperatures and/or strong gravities. worlds have relatively warm surface
temperatures and/or weak gravities. Bodies
Gravity with significant atmospheres have low surface
temperatures and/or strong gravities.

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 666 Earth Science

During planetary formation, the inner regions of and helium move too slowly to escape the gravitational
the developing solar system were too hot for ices and pull of the Jovian planets. Cold temperatures also explain
gases to condense, but the outer planets formed where why Saturn’s moon Titan, which is small compared to
temperatures were low and solar heating of planetesimals Earth but much farther from the Sun and therefore
was minimal. This allowed water vapor, ammonia, and colder, retains an atmosphere.
methane to condense into ices. Hence, the Jovian planets
contain large amounts of these volatiles. As the planets
grew, the largest Jovian planets, Jupiter and Saturn, also Planetary Impacts
attracted large quantities of the lightest gases, hydrogen Impacts between solar system bodies have occurred
and helium, due to their strong gravitational fields. This throughout the history of the solar system. On bodies
explains why the Jovian planets have thick atmospheres. that have little or no atmosphere (like the Moon) and,
How did Earth acquire water and other volatile therefore, no air resistance, even the smallest pieces of
gases? It seems that early in the history of the solar interplanetary debris (meteorites) can reach the surface.
system, gravitational tugs by the gas giants, mainly Jupi- At high enough velocities, this debris can produce micro-
ter and Saturn, sent planetesimals into very eccentric scopic cavities on individual mineral grains. By contrast,
orbits. As a result, Earth was bombarded with icy objects large impact craters result from collisions with massive
(mainly comet-like objects) that brought in water and bodies, such as asteroids and comets.
other elements. This was a fortuitous event for organisms Planetary impacts were considerably more common
that currently inhabit our planet. Mercury, our Moon, in the early history of the solar system than they are
and numerous other small bodies lack significant atmo- today. Following that early period of intense bombard-
spheres, although they certainly would have been bom- ment, the rate of cratering diminished dramatically, and
barded by icy bodies early in their development. it now remains essentially constant. Because weathering
Airless bodies develop where solar heating is strong and erosion are almost nonexistent on the Moon and Mer-
and/or gravities are weak. Simply stated, small warm cury, evidence of their cratered past is clearly evident.
­bodies have a better chance of losing their atmospheres: On larger bodies, the presence of an atmosphere may
Gas molecules are more energetic (and hence faster-­ cause the impacting objects to break up and/or deceler-
moving) on a warm body, and they need less speed to ate. For example, Earth’s atmosphere causes meteoroids
escape the weak gravity of a small body. Mercury, the with masses of less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) to
smallest and least massive of the eight planets, has a low lose up to 90 percent of their speed as they penetrate
surface gravity, which makes holding on to an atmosphere the atmosphere. Therefore, impacts of low-mass bodies
challenging. In addition, because it is the planet closest to produce only small craters on Earth. Our atmosphere is
the Sun, it is constantly bombarded by solar wind. Mercury much less effective in slowing large bodies; fortunately,
therefore has the thinnest atmosphere of all the planets. they make very rare appearances.
The somewhat larger terrestrial planets, Earth, The formation of a large impact crater is illustrated
Venus, and Mars, retain some heavy gases, including in Figure 22.4. The meteoroid’s high-speed impact com-
nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and even water vapor. presses the material it strikes, causing an almost instan-
However, their atmospheres are miniscule compared taneous rebound, which ejects material from the surface.
to their total mass. Early in their development, the ter- On Earth, impacts can occur at speeds that exceed
restrial planets may have had thicker atmospheres. Over 50 kilometers (30 miles) per second. Impacts at such
time, however, these primitive atmospheres gradually high speeds produce shock waves that compress both
changed as light gases trickled away into space. For the impactor and the material being impacted. Almost
example, Earth’s atmosphere continues to leak hydro- instantaneously, the over-compressed material rebounds
gen and helium (the two lightest gases) into space. This and explosively ejects material out of the newly formed
phenomenon occurs near the top of Earth’s atmosphere, crater. In addition, large craters often exhibit a central
where air is so tenuous that nothing stops the fastest- peak, such as the one shown in Figure 22.5. These central
moving particles from flying off into space. The speed peaks also result from crustal rebound.
required to escape a planet’s gravity is called escape Much of the material expelled, called ejecta, lands
velocity. Because hydrogen is the lightest gas, it most in or near the crater, where it accumulates to form a rim.
easily reaches the speed needed to overcome Earth’s The remaining material forms a blanket around the c­ rater.
gravity. Billions of years in the future, the loss of hydro- Upon impact, large meteoroids may eject large projectiles
gen (one of the components of water) will eventually “dry that strike the surrounding landscape to generate smaller
out” Earth’s oceans, ending its hydrologic cycle. structures called secondary craters. Large meteoroids
The massive Jovian planets have strong gravitational also generate sufficient heat to melt and then eject some
fields, which partially explains their thick atmospheres. of the impacted rock as glass beads. Specimens of glass
Furthermore, because of their great distances from the beads produced in this manner, as well as melt breccia
Sun, solar heating is minimal. Because the molecular consisting of broken fragments welded by the heat of
motion of a gas is temperature dependent, even hydrogen impact, have been collected on Earth and on the Moon.

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 667

Compressional Meteoroid
wave
Crater ray

Secondary crater

A. The energy of a rapidly moving body is transformed into

heat and shock waves. Central peak

High-speed
ejecta

Crater rim

Ejecta
Rebound

B. The rebound of over-compressed rock causes debris to be

explosively ejected from the crater. Some of this material
may melt and be deposited as glass beads.
Figure 22.5 Lunar crater Euler This 20-kilometer-wide
(12-mile-wide) crater is located in the southwestern part of
Central
peak Mare Imbrium. Clearly visible are the bright rays, central
Melt
peak, secondary craters, and large accumulation of ejecta
near the crater rim. (Courtesy of NASA)

Fractured
rock
C. Large craters may contain areas of rock that was melted
by the impact and a rebounded central peak.
Concept Checks 22.1
Ejecta
Uplifted blanket 1. Briefly outline the steps in the formation of our
crater rim solar system, according to the nebular theory.
2. By what criteria are planets considered either
terrestrial or Jovian?
3. What accounts for the large density differences
between the terrestrial and Jovian planets?
4. Explain why the terrestrial planets have meager
D. Ejected material forms a “blanket” around the crater. atmospheres compared to the Jovian planets.
Figure 22.4 Formation of an impact crater

22.2 Earth’s Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block

List and describe the major features of Earth’s Moon and explain how maria basins were formed.

The Earth–Moon system is unique partly because of the period of revolution around Earth, the same lunar hemi-
Moon’s large size relative to other bodies in the inner sphere always faces Earth. All of the landings of staffed
solar system. The Moon’s diameter is 3475 ­kilometers Apollo missions were confined to the side of the Moon that
(2160 miles), about one-fourth of Earth’s 12,756 k­ ilometers faces Earth.
(7926 miles), and its surface temperature averages about The Moon’s density is 3.3 times that of water, com-
107°C (225°F) during daylight hours and -153°C ( -243°F) parable to that of mantle rocks on Earth but considerably
at night. Because its period of rotation on its axis equals its less than Earth’s average density (5.5 times that of water).

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 668 Earth Science

Figure 22.6 Astronomers generally agree that the Moon formed

Telescopic view of the as a result of a collision between a Mars-sized body and
lunar surface The major a youthful, semimolten Earth about 4.5 billion years ago.
features are the dark
During this collision, some of the ejected debris was
maria and the light,
highly cratered thrown into orbit around Earth and gradually coalesced
highlands. (Lick Mare Imbrium to form the Moon. Computer simulations show that most
Observatory (Sea of Rains) of the ejected material would have come from the rocky
Publications Office) mantle of the impactor, while its core was assimilated
into the growing Earth. This impact model is consistent
with the Moon having a proportionately smaller core
Mare Tranquillitatis than Earth’s and, hence, a lower density.
Copernicus (Sea of Tranquility)
Kepler crater The Lunar Surface
crater
When Galileo first pointed his telescope toward the
Moon, he observed two different types of terrain:
Lunar dark lowlands and brighter, highly cratered highlands
Highlands ­(Figure 22.6). Because the dark regions appeared to be
smooth, resembling seas on Earth, they were called
maria (mar = sea, singular mare). The Apollo 11 mis-
sion showed conclusively that the maria are exceedingly
smooth plains composed of basaltic lavas. These vast
plains are strongly concentrated on the side of the Moon
facing Earth and cover about 16 percent of the lunar sur-
face. The lack of large volcanic cones on these surfaces is
The Moon’s low mass relative to Earth results in a lunar evidence of high eruption rates of very fluid basaltic lavas
gravitational attraction that is one-sixth that of Earth. similar to the Columbia Plateau flood basalts on Earth.
The Moon’s small mass (and low gravity) is the primary By contrast, the Moon’s light-colored areas resemble
reason it was not able to retain an atmosphere. Earth’s continents, so the first observers dubbed them
terrae (Latin for “lands”). These areas are now called
lunar highlands because they are elevated several
How Did the Moon Form? kilometers above the maria. Rocks retrieved from the
Current models show that Earth is too small to have highlands are mainly breccias, pulverized by massive
formed with a moon, particularly one so large. Further- bombardment early in the Moon’s history. The arrange-
more, a captured moon would likely have an eccentric orbit ment of terrae and maria has resulted in the legendary
similar to the captured moons that orbit the Jovian planets. “face” of the “man in the Moon.”

EYE on the UNIVERSE 22.1

Mariner 9 obtained this image of Phobos, one of two tiny moons of Mars.
Phobos has a diameter of only 24 kilometers (15 miles). The two moons of
Mars were not discovered until the late 1800s because their size made them
nearly impossible to see with earlier telescopes.

QUESTION 1 In what way is Phobos similar to Earth’s Moon?

QUESTION 2 List characteristics of Phobos that make it different from
Earth’s Moon.
QUESTION 3 Do an Internet search to learn how Phobos and its
companion moon, Deimos, got their names.
(Photo by NASA)

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 669

Some of the most obvious lunar features are impact Impact of an asteroid-size body produced a huge crater SmartFigure 22.7
craters. A meteoroid 3 meters (10 feet) in diameter can hundreds of kilometers in diameter and disturbed the lunar Formation and fill-
crust far beyond the crater. ing of large impact
blast out a crater 50 times larger, or about 150 meters
basins (Photo courtesy of
(500 feet) in diameter. The larger craters shown in
NASA)
­Figure 22.6, such as Kepler and Copernicus (32 and
93 kilometers [20 and 58 miles] in diameter, respectively), Tutorial
were created from bombardment by bodies 1 kilometer [Link]

(0.62 mile) or more in diameter.

History of the Lunar Surface The evidence used to

unravel the history of the lunar surface comes primarily
from radiometric dating of rocks returned from Apollo
missions and studies of crater densities—counting the
number of craters per unit area. Because planets and
moons have continually been struck by meteoroids
throughout their history, the greater the density of cra-
ters on a surface feature, the older the feature is inferred
to be. Such evidence suggests that, after the Moon
coalesced, it passed through four phases: (1) formation
of the original crust, (2) excavation of the large impact Filling of the impact crater with fluid basalts, perhaps derived
basins, (3) filling of maria basins, and (4) formation of from partial melting deep within the lunar mantle.
rayed craters.
During the late stages of its accretion, the Moon’s
outer shell was most likely completely melted—literally
a magma ocean. Then, about 4.4 billion years ago, the
magma ocean began to cool and underwent magmatic
differentiation (see Chapter 2). Most of the dense miner-
als, olivine and pyroxene, sank, while less-dense silicate
minerals floated to form the Moon’s crust. The highlands
are made of these igneous rocks, which rose buoyantly
like “scum” from the crystallizing magma. The most com-
mon highland rock type is anorthosite, composed mainly Today these lava-filled basins make up the lunar maria and
of calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar. similar large structures on Mercury.
Once formed, the lunar crust was continually
impacted as the Moon swept up debris from the solar
nebula. During this time, several large impact basins
were created. Then, about 3.8 billion years ago, the
Moon, as well as the rest of the solar system, experienced
a sudden drop in the rate of meteoritic bombardment.
The Moon’s next major event was the filling of
the large impact basins that had been created at least
300 million years earlier (Figure 22.7). Radiometric
­dating of the maria basalts puts their age between
3.0 b
­ illion and 3.5 billion years—considerably younger
than the initial lunar crust.
The maria basalts are thought to have originated eruptions, narrow winding valleys (rilles) thought to be
at depths between 200 and 400 kilometers (125 and collapsed lava tubes, and long linear depressions similar
250 miles). They were likely generated by a slow rise to down-faulted valleys (grabens) on Earth.
in temperature attributed to the decay of radioactive The last prominent features to form were rayed cra-
elements. Partial melting probably occurred in several ters, as exemplified by the roughly 93-kilometer-wide
isolated pockets, as indicated by the diverse chemical (58-mile-wide) Copernicus crater shown in Figure 22.6.
makeup of the rocks retrieved during the Apollo missions. Light-colored material ejected from these craters, called
Recent evidence suggests that some mare-forming erup- rays because they radiate outward, blankets the maria
tions may have occurred as recently as 1 billion years ago. surfaces and many older, rayless craters. The relatively
Other lunar surface features related to this period of young Copernicus crater is thought to be about 1 billion
volcanism include small shield volcanoes (8 to 12 kilome- years old. Had it formed on Earth, weathering and ero-
ters [5 to 7.5 miles] in diameter), evidence of pyroclastic sion would have long since obliterated it.

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 670 Earth Science

erosion is dominated by the impact of tiny par-

ticles from space (micrometeorites) that continu-
ally bombard its surface and gradually smooth the
landscape. This activity has crushed and repeat-
edly mixed the upper portions of the lunar crust.
Both the maria and terrae are mantled
with a layer of gray, unconsolidated debris
derived from a few billion years of mete-
oric bombardment (­Figure 22.8). This soil-
like layer, properly called lunar regolith
(rhegos = blanket, lithos = stone), is anywhere
from 2 to 20 meters (6.6 to 66 feet) thick, com-
posed of igneous rocks, breccia, glass beads, and
fine lunar dust.

Concept Checks 22.2

1. Briefly describe the origin of the Moon.
Figure 22.8 Astronaut 2. Compare and contrast the Moon’s maria and
Harrison Schmitt, highlands.
sampling the lunar Today’s Lunar Surface The Moon’s small mass and
surface Notice the low gravity account for its lack of atmosphere and flowing 3. How are maria on the Moon similar to the
footprint (inset) in the water; therefore, the processes of weathering and ero- Columbia Plateau in the Pacific Northwest?
lunar “soil,” called regolith, sion that continually modify Earth’s surface are absent. 4. How is crater density used in the relative dating of
which lacks organic In addition, tectonic forces are no longer active on the the Moon’s surface features?
material and is therefore
Moon, so quakes and volcanic eruptions have ceased. 5. Summarize the major stages in the development of
not a true soil. (Courtesy of
NASA)
Because the Moon is unprotected by an atmosphere, the modern lunar surface.

22.3 Terrestrial Planets

Outline the principal characteristics of Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Describe their similarities to and
differences from Earth.

The terrestrial planets, in order from the Sun, are Mer- Although Mercury is small and scientists initially
cury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Here we consider Mer- expected the planet’s interior to have already cooled,
cury, Venus, and Mars and compare their features to NASA’s Messenger spacecraft found in 2012 that
those of Earth. Mercury has a magnetic field, although it is about
100 times weaker than Earth’s. This suggests that an
outer layer of Mercury’s large core remains molten and
Mercury: The Innermost Planet capable of convection—a requirement for generating a
Mercury, the innermost and smallest planet, revolves magnetic field.
around the Sun quickly (88 days) but rotates so slowly Mercury resembles Earth’s Moon in that it has
on its axis that a day–night cycle lasts 176 Earth days. very low reflectivity, no sustained atmosphere, numer-
Thus, 1 “night” on Mercury is roughly equivalent to ous volcanic features, and a heavily cratered terrain
3 months on Earth and is followed by the same dura- ­(Figure 22.9). The largest-known impact crater on Mer-
tion of daylight. Mercury has the greatest extremes of cury is Caloris Basin (1300 kilometers [800 miles] in
surface temperature among the planets, from as low as diameter). Like our Moon, Mercury has extensive smooth
-173°C (-280°F) at night to noontime temperatures plains; they cover nearly 40 percent of the area imaged
exceeding 427°C (800°F), hot enough to melt tin and by Mariner 10. Most of these smooth areas are associated
lead, and making life as we know it impossible. with large impact basins, including Caloris Basin, where
Mercury absorbs most of the sunlight that strikes lava partially filled the basins and surrounding lowlands.
it, reflecting only 6 percent into space, a characteristic Consequently, they appear to be similar in origin to lunar
of terrestrial bodies with little or no atmosphere. The maria. Recently, Messenger found evidence of other
minuscule amount of gas that makes up Mercury’s nearly types of volcanism on Mercury, including a huge flood
nonexistent atmosphere may have originated from several basalt province reminiscent of, but much larger than,
sources, including ionized gas from the Sun, ices that Earth’s Columbia Plateau. Researchers also confirmed
vaporized during a relatively recent comet impact, and the presence of substantial deposits of ice within per-
outgassing of the planet’s interior. petually shadowed polar craters.

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 671

Venus: The Veiled Planet

Venus, second only to the Moon in brilliance in the
night sky, is named for the Roman goddess of love
and beauty. It orbits the Sun in a nearly perfect
circle once every 225 Earth days. However,
Venus rotates in the opposite direction of
the other planets (retrograde motion) at
an agonizingly slow pace: 1 Venus day
is equivalent to about 243 Earth days.
Venus has the densest atmosphere of the
terrestrial planets, consisting mostly of
carbon dioxide (97 percent)—and it is
the prototype for an extreme greenhouse
effect. As a consequence, the surface
temperature of Venus averages more than
450°C (900°F) both day and night. Tem-
perature variations at the surface are generally
minimal because of the intense mixing within
the planet’s dense atmosphere. Investigations of the
planet’s extreme and uniform surface temperature led
scientists to more fully understand how the greenhouse
effect operates on Earth. Figure 22.9 Two views
kilometers. Venus’s Baltis Vallis, the longest-known lava of Mercury On the left is
The composition of the Venusian interior is probably
channel in the solar system, meanders 6800 kilometers a monochromatic image,
similar to Earth’s. Although Venus, like Earth, prob-
(4255 miles) across the planet. More than 1000 volcanoes while the image on the
ably has a molten outer core, Venus essentially lacks a
with diameters greater than 20 kilometers (12 miles) have right is color enhanced.
magnetic field, which indicates that the core does not These are high-resolution
been identified on Venus. However, high surface pres-
convect. That could be due to some combination of the mosaics constructed
sures keep the gaseous components in lava from escaping
planet’s slow rotation and an insufficient thermal gradi- from thousands of
and limit production of pyroclastic material and lava foun-
ent. However, scientists do think that mantle convection images obtained by the
taining, phenomena that tend to steepen volcanic cones. Messenger orbiter. (Courtesy
operates on Venus, but the processes of plate tectonics do
not appear to have contributed to the present Venusian of NASA)

topography.
The surface of Venus is completely hidden from view
by a thick cloud layer composed mainly of tiny sulfuric
acid droplets. Between 1961 and 1984, despite extreme
temperatures and pressures, 10 Russian spacecraft
landed successfully and transmitted data, includ-
ing surface images. As expected, however, all the
probes were crushed by the planet’s immense
atmospheric pressure, approximately 90 times
that on Earth, within an hour of landing. Using
radar imaging, the unstaffed spacecraft Magel-
lan mapped Venus’s surface in stunning detail
­(Figure 22.10).
s
A few thousand impact craters have been
gh land Figure 22.10 Global
identified on Venus—far fewer than on Mercury
d i t e hi view of the surface of
and Mars but more than on Earth. Research- Ap hro Venus This computer-
ers expected that Venus would show evidence of generated, false-color
extensive cratering from the heavy bombardment image of Venus was
period but found instead that a period of extensive constructed from years of
volcanism was responsible for resurfacing Venus. The investigations, culminating
planet’s thick atmosphere also limits the number of with the Magellan mission.
impacts by breaking up large incoming meteoroids and The twisting bright
features that cross the
incinerating most of the small debris. globe are highly fractured
About 80 percent of the Venusian surface consists Elevation of surface ridges and canyons of
of low-lying plains covered by lava flows, some of which the eastern Aphrodite
traveled along lava channels that extend hundreds of Low High highland. (Courtesy of NASA)

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 672 Earth Science

The rises are thought to have formed where hot mantle

Maat Mons plumes encountered the base of the planet’s crust, caus-
ing uplift. Much like mantle plumes on Earth, abundant
volcanism is associated with mantle upwelling on Venus.
Recent data collected by the European Space Agency’s
Venus Express suggest that Venus’s highlands contain
Sapas Mons silica-rich granitic rock. These elevated landmasses
resemble Earth’s continents, albeit on a smaller scale.

Mars: The Red Planet

Mars, approximately one-half the diameter of Earth,
Lava flows Lava flows revolves around the Sun in 687 Earth days. Mean surface
temperatures range from lows of -140°C (-220°F) at the
poles in the winter to highs of 20°C (68°F) at the equator
in the summer. Although seasonal temperature variations
are similar to Earth’s, daily temperature variations are
greater due to the very thin atmosphere of Mars (only
1 percent as dense as Earth’s). The tenuous Martian atmo-
sphere consists primarily of carbon dioxide (95 percent),
with small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor.
Figure 22.11 Volcanoes
on Venus Sapas Mons
In addition, Venus’s high temperatures allow lava to Martian Topography Mars, like the Moon, is pitted with
is a broad volcano, remain mobile longer and, thus, flow far from the impact craters. The smaller craters are usually filled with
400 kilometers (250 miles) vent. Both of these factors result in volcanoes that tend wind-blown dust—confirming that Mars is a dry, desert
wide. The bright areas to be flatter and wider than those on Earth or Mars world. The reddish color of the Martian landscape is due
in the foreground are ­(Figure 22.11). Maat Mons, the largest volcano on Venus,
lava flows. Another large
to iron oxide (rust). Large impact craters provide informa-
is about 8.5 kilometers (5 miles) high and 400 kilometers tion about the nature of the Martian surface. For example,
volcano, Maat Mons, is
(250 miles) wide. By comparison, Mauna Loa, Earth’s where the Martian surface is composed of dry rocky
in the background. (This
image has considerable
largest volcano, is about 9 kilometers high (5.5 miles) and debris, ejecta similar in size and shape to that surrounding
vertical exaggeration.) only 120 kilometers (75 miles) wide. lunar craters is found. However, some Martian craters fea-
(Courtesy of NASA) Venus also has major highlands consisting of plateaus, ture ejecta that looks like muddy slurry was splashed from
ridges, and topographic rises that stand above the plains. the crater. Planetary geologists infer that a layer
of permafrost (frozen, icy soil) lies below
portions of the Martian surface and
Northern that the heat of impact melted the
lava plains ice to produce the fluid-like
appearance of these ejecta.
About two-thirds
Elysium Mons
Olympus Mons of the surface of Mars
consists of heavily cra-
tered highlands, con-
Tharsis bulge
Equator Equator centrated mostly in its
southern hemisphere
Cratered (Figure 22.12). The
highlands period of extreme cra-
tering occurred early in
Valles Marineris the planet’s history and
ended about 3.8 billion
Hellas years ago, as it did in the rest
Argyre
Figure 22.12 Two hemispheres
of Mars Color represents height
above (or below) the mean
planetary radius: White is about
12 kilometers above average, and
–8 –4 0 4 8 12 dark blue is 8 kilometers below
Altitude (km)
Low High average. (Courtesy of NASA)

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 673

of the solar system. Thus, Martian highlands are similar SmartFigure 22.13
in age to the lunar highlands. Olympus Mons This
The remaining one-third of the planet, located in the massive inactive shield
volcano on Mars covers an
northern hemisphere, is covered by low plains. Based on
area about the size of the
their relatively low crater counts, these northern plains state of Arizona. (Courtesy
are younger than the highlands. Their flat topography, of NASA)
possibly the smoothest surface in the solar system, is
consistent with vast outpourings of fluid basaltic lavas. Tutorial
[Link]
Visible on the plains are volcanic cones, some with sum-
mit pits (craters) and lava flows with wrinkled edges. If
Mars once had abundant water, it would have flowed to
the north, which is lower in elevation, possibly forming
an expansive ocean. Caldera of
Located along the Martian equator is an enormous Olympus Mons
elevated region about the size of North America, called
the Tharsis bulge. This feature, about 10 kilometers
(6 miles) high, appears to have been uplifted and capped
with a massive accumulation of volcanic rock that Outline of the
includes the solar system’s largest volcanoes. state of Arizona
The tectonic forces that created the Tharsis region also
produced fractures that radiate from its center, like spokes
on a bicycle wheel. Along the eastern flanks of the bulge, where plumes of hot rock rise from deep within their inte-
a series of vast canyons called Valles Marineris (Mariner riors. On Earth, moving plates keep the crust in constant
Valleys) developed (see Figure 22.12). This canyon network motion. Consequently, mantle plumes tend to produce a
was largely created by down-faulting rather than the stream chain of volcanic structures, like the Hawaiian Islands. By
erosion that carved Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Thus, it con- contrast, plate movement on Mars is absent, so successive
sists of graben-like valleys similar to the East African Rift eruptions accumulate in the same location, creating enor-
Valley. Once formed, Valles Marineris grew thanks to water mous volcanoes rather than a string of smaller ones. Figure 22.14 Similar
erosion and collapse of the rift walls. The main canyon is rock outcrops on Mars
more than 5000 kilometers (3000 miles) long, 7 kilometers Wind Erosion on Mars The dominant force currently and Earth This set of
(4 miles) deep, and 100 kilometers (60 miles) wide. images compares a rock
shaping the Martian surface is wind erosion. Extensive
outcrop on Mars (left) with
Other prominent features on the Martian landscape dust storms with winds up to 270 kilometers (170 miles) similar rocks on Earth.
are large impact basins. Hellas, the largest visible impact per hour can persist for weeks. Dust devils have also been The rock outcrop on Earth
basin on the planet, is about 2300 kilometers (1400 miles) photographed. Most of the Martian landscape resembles formed in a streambed,
in diameter and has the planet’s lowest elevation. Debris Earth’s rocky deserts, with abundant dunes and low areas and the similarity of the
ejected from this basin contributed to the elevation of partially filled with dust. Martian rocks suggests
the adjacent highlands. Other buried crater basins even that they formed in a
larger than Hellas exist, including Utopia Basin, where similar environment.
Water on Mars in the Past Considerable evidence Based on this finding,
Viking 2 landed. indicates that in the first 1 billion years of the planet’s scientist John Grotzinger
history, liquid water flowed on Mars’s surface, creating concluded that there was
Volcanoes on Mars Volcanism has been prevalent on stream valleys and related features (Figure 22.14). One once “a vigorous flow
Mars during most of its history. The scarcity of impact location where running water was involved in carving on the surface of Mars.”
craters on some volcanic surfaces (Courtesy of NASA)
suggests that the planet is still active.
This NASA image obtained by Curiosity rover shows A typical sample of the sedimentary rock conglomerate
Mars has several of the solar system’s rounded gravel fragments within a rock outcrop consis- that contains rounded gravel fragments deposited in a
largest known volcanoes, including the tent with the sedimentary rock conglomerate. Weathered stream bed on Earth.
largest, Olympus Mons, which is about rock fragments can be seen below.
the size of Arizona and stands nearly
three times higher than Mount Ever-
est. This enormous volcano was active
as recently as a few million years ago
and resembles Earth’s Hawaiian shield
volcanoes (Figure 22.13).
How did the volcanoes on Mars
grow so much larger than similar struc-
tures on Earth? The largest volcanoes 1 cm 1 cm
on the terrestrial planets tend to form

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 Mars Exploration
GEOGRAPHICS 22.1

Since the first close-up picture of Mars was obtained in 1965, spacecraft voyages to the NASA’s Phoenix lander dug
fourth planet from the Sun have revealed a world that is strangely familiar. Mars has a into the Martian surface
to uncover water ice in a
thin atmosphere, polar ice caps, volcanoes, lava plains, sand dunes, and seasons. Unlike northern region of the
Earth, Mars appears to lack any appreciable amount of liquid water on its surface. planet. Whether ice
However many Martian landscapes suggest that, in the past, running water was an becomes available as
effective erosional agent. The defining question for Mars exploration is liquid water to support
microbial life remains
“Has Mars ever harbored life?” unanswered.

PHOENIX
VIKING 2

VIKING 1 PATHFINDER The U.S. has successfully landed

NASA
seven spacecrafts on the surface of
OPPORTUNITY CURIOSITY Mars. The most recent was NASA’s
Curiosity, which landed in Gale
SPIRIT Crater in August, 2012.

MARS LANDING SITES

NASA

NASA's Curiosity rover, the size of a car, gracefully landed on Mars after
decelerating from 13,000 miles per hour to a complete stop. The landing,
described as “seven minutes of terror,” began a two-year mission in and
around Gale Crater to discover signs of past or present microbial life.

NASA

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 675

NASA NASA

The layers in the background, located at the base of Mount Sharp, are thought to be surviving remnants of extensive This image captured by Curiosity shows rounded
deposits laid down in a lake long ago, or possibly wind-delivered sediments subsequently cemented together by ground- sand grains, which suggests the grains were carried
water. Curiosity uses 10 instruments to investigate whether Mars had ever provided a water-rich environment. long distances, possibly by running water.

NASA CAPE ST. VINCENT

VICTORIA CRATER

NASA

This false-color image obtained by Rover

Opportunity shows Cape St. Vincent, one of many
promontories that jut out from the walls of Victoria
Crater. Below the loose, jumbled rocks, layering
in the crater walls shows evidence of ancient
wind-blown dunes.

Spacecraft* Type Landed or entered orbit Years Active***

1 Curiosity Rover August 2012 Remains in operation
2 Phoenix Lander May 2008 Ran out of power during its first Martian winter
3 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter March 2006 Planned 2-year mission, remains in operation
4 Spirit Rover January 2004 Planned 4-year mission, operated for more than 6 years
5 Opportunity Rover January 2004 Planned 90-day mission, remains in operation
6 Odyssey Orbiter October 2001 Remains active, longest active spacecraft in orbit around another planet
7 Viking I Lander** July 1976 Operational for more than 6 years
8 Viking II Lander** September 1976 Operational for more than 3 years
9 Maven Orbiter September 2014 Remains in operation Question:
* Selected NASA missions; ** Also had an orbiter; *** As of 2017 What evidence indicates that Mars may
have been habitable in the distant past?

NASA

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 valleys can be seen in the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter image in
­ igure 22.15. Notice the stream-
F
like banks that contain numerous
teardrop-shaped islands. These val-
leys appear to have been cut by cata-
strophic floods with discharge rates
more than 1000 times greater than
those of the Mississippi River. Most
of these large flood channels emerge
from areas of chaotic topography that
appear to have formed when the sur-
face collapsed. The most likely source
of water for these flood-created val-
leys was the melting of subsurface ice.
However, not all M ­ artian valleys were
generated from water released in this
manner. Some exhibit branching, tree-
like patterns resembling dendritic stream Dark streaks
(Recurring slope lineae)
drainage networks on Earth.
On August 6, 2012, the Mars rover Figure 22.16 Dark streaks on Mars, thought to be
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater, an impact caused by the flow of briny (salty) water These streaks,
crater that contains a 5-kilometer-high called recurring slope lineae, are found on steep, warm
(3-mile-high) accumulation of sediment Martian slopes and disappear during the cold season.
called Mount Sharp. As of October 2016, (Photo courtesy of NASA)
Figure 22.15 Earth-like Curiosity had traveled over 10 kilometers (6 miles),
stream channels These
examining the lower slopes of this layered mountain
streamlike channels are liquid water. Although these dark streaks are just 0.5
strong evidence that Mars (see G
­ EOgraphics 22.1). At a target zone NASA calls
“Big Arm,” the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) took to 5 meters (1.6 to 16 feet) wide, they can extend for
once had flowing water.
Inset shows a close-up of images of sediment containing rounded grains, which hundreds of meters downslope. In addition, these fea-
a streamlined island where must have traveled long distances before being depos- tures appear during warm weather but fade away when
running water encountered ited. Analysis of these sediments indicates that Gale the temperatures drop, providing further evidence
resistant material along its Crater periodically filled with water, forming a lake that that liquid water is involved in their formation. Salts,
channel. (Courtesy of NASA) which are widespread on the Martian surface, would
lasted hundreds or possibly even thousands of years.
This is strong evidence that Mars must have had a much lower the freezing point of water from 0°C (32°F) to
thicker atmosphere that supported a hydrologic cycle -70°C (-94°F). The discovery of these dark streaks has
similar to Earth’s. It also means that other craters most implications for future human exploration of Mars. In
likely supported long-lived lakes that may have provided the late 2030s, when NASA plans to send astronauts to
suitable habitat for ­microbial life. the red planet, the presence of liquid water—even very
salty water—would aid that ambitious effort.
Does Liquid Water Exist on Present-Day Mars? We
have learned from NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, which
dug into the Martian surface, that poleward of about 30°
latitude, ice can be found within 1 meter (3 feet) of the
surface. Furthermore, Mars’s permanent polar ice caps Concept Checks 22.3
are composed of mainly water ice, blanketed by a thin
1. What body in our solar system is most like
layer of carbon dioxide ice during the cold season. Cur- Mercury?
rent estimates place the maximum amount of water ice
held by the Martian polar ice caps at about 1.5 times the 2. Venus was once referred to as “Earth’s twin.” How
are these two planets similar? How do they differ
amount covering Greenland. However, this water appears
from one another?
to remain frozen year-round.
Recent images from a high-resolution camera 3. What surface features do Mars and Earth have in
aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show common?
dark streaks on Mars, called recurring slope lineae 4. Why are the largest volcanoes on Earth so much
(Figure 22.16). Researchers believe that these streaks, smaller than the largest ones on Mars?
which appear seasonally on steep, relatively warm Mar- 5. What evidence suggests that Mars had an active
tian slopes, may be caused by the flow of briny (salty) hydrologic cycle in the past?

676

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 677

22.4 Jovian Planets

Summarize and compare the features of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, including their ring
systems.

The four Jovian planets, in order from the Sun, are In 2016 Juno spacecraft send back the first images
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Because of their of Jupiter’s north polar region (Figure 22.18). This region
location within the solar system and their size and com- of Jupiter is bluer than the rest of the planet and exhibits
position, they are also commonly called the outer planets numerous storm systems, unlike anything previously seen
and the gas giants. on any of the gas giants in our solar system.
Jupiter’s magnetic field, the strongest in the solar
system, is probably generated by a rapidly rotating,
Jupiter: Lord of the Heavens liquid metallic hydrogen layer surrounding its core.
The giant among planets, Jupiter has a mass 2.5 times Bright auroras associated with the magnetic field have
greater than the combined mass of all other planets, satel- been photographed over Jupiter’s poles (Figure 22.19).
lites, and asteroids in the solar system. However, it pales in Unlike Earth’s auroras, which occur only in conjunc-
comparison to the Sun, with only 1/800 of the Sun’s mass. tion with heightened solar activity, Jupiter’s auroras are
Jupiter orbits the Sun once every 12 Earth years, and continuous.
it rotates more rapidly than any other planet, completing
one rotation in slightly less than 10 hours. When viewed
telescopically, the effect of this fast spin is noticeable. Reddish-brown clouds of
The bulge of the equatorial region and the slight flatten- ammonium hydrosulfate
blankets much of
ing at the poles are evident (see the “Polar Flattening” Jupiter’s surface.
column in Table 22.1). Ammonia “snow”
falls from high-level
Jupiter’s appearance is mainly attributable to the cloud deck.
colors of light reflected from its three main cloud layers
(Figure 22.17). The warmest, and lowest, layer is composed
mainly of water ice and appears blue-gray, while the mid- Belt
ds
dle layer, where temperatures are lower, consists of brown g win
Stron
to orange-brown clouds of ammonium hydrosulfide drop-
lets. These colors are thought to be by-products of chemical
reactions occurring in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Near the top of Zone
its atmosphere lie white wispy clouds of ammonia ice.
Because of its immense gravity, Jupiter is shrinking a
nds
few centimeters each year. This contraction generates most n g wi
Stro
of the heat that drives Jupiter’s atmospheric circulation.
Thus, unlike winds on Earth, which are driven by solar Belt
energy, the heat emanating from Jupiter’s interior produces
the huge convection currents observed in its atmosphere.
Jupiter’s convective flow produces alternating
dark-colored belts and light-colored zones, as shown in Rising air forms
Figure 22.17. The light clouds (zones) are regions where zones of light colored
warm material is ascending and cooling, whereas the ammonia clouds.
dark belts represent cool material that is sinking and
warming. This convective circulation, along with Jupiter’s Figure 22.17 The
structure of Jupiter’s
rapid rotation, generates the high-speed, east–west flow
atmosphere The areas
observed between the belts and zones. of light clouds (zones) are
The largest storm on the planet is the Great Red regions where gases are
Spot. This enormous anticyclonic storm, twice the size of ascending and cooling.
Earth, has been known for 300 years. In addition to the Sinking and warming
Great Red Spot, there are various white and brown oval- dominate the flow in the
shaped storms. The white ovals are the cold cloud tops of darker cloud layers (belts).
This convective circulation,
huge storms many times larger than hurricanes on Earth.
along with the planet’s
The brown storm clouds reside at lower levels in the rapid rotation, generates
atmosphere. Lightning in the white oval storms has been the high-speed winds
photographed by the Cassini spacecraft, but the strikes observed between `the
appear to be less frequent than on Earth. belts and zones. (NASA)

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 678 Earth Science

Figure 22.18 First

image taken of Jupiter’s
north polar region This
image was captured by
NASA’s Juno spacecraft
in 2016, when it flew
about 4200 kilometers
(2500 miles) from Jupiter’s
swirling clouds. (Courtesy of
NASA)

Figure 22.19 Infrared image of the southern aurora of

Jupiter This image, captured by Juno in 2016, shows the
wavelength of light emitted by excited hydrogen ions found in
the planet’s polar regions. (Courtesy of NASA)

Jupiter’s Moons Jupiter’s satellite system, consisting

of 67 moons discovered thus far, resembles a miniature
solar system. Galileo discovered the 4 largest satellites,
called Galilean satellites, in 1610 (Figure 22.20). The two
largest, Ganymede and Callisto, are roughly the size of
Mercury, whereas the two smaller ones, Europa and Io,
are about the size of Earth’s Moon. The eight largest
moons appear to have formed around Jupiter as the solar
Figure 22.20 Jupiter’s
system condensed.
four largest moons Jupiter also has many very small satellites, most
These moons are often of which revolve in the opposite direction (retrograde
referred to as the Galilean motion) of the largest moons and have eccentric (elon-
moons because Galileo gated) orbits steeply inclined to the Jovian equator. These
discovered them. (Courtesy satellites appear to be asteroids or comets that passed
of NASA)
near enough to be either gravitationally captured by Jupi-
ter or remnants of the collisions of larger bodies.
The Galilean moons can be observed with binocu-
A. Io, perhaps the most B. Europa’s icy surface
volcanically active body is quite flat and thought
lars or a small telescope and are interesting in their own
in our solar system, has to cover a vast ocean right. Images from Voyagers 1 and 2 revealed, to the sur-
more than 80 active, composed of briny water. prise of most geoscientists, that each of the four Galilean
sulfurous volcanic
structures. satellites is a unique world (Figure 22.20). The Galileo
mission also unexpectedly revealed that the composition
of each satellite is strikingly different, implying a differ-
ent evolution for each. For example, Ganymede has a
dynamic core that generates a strong magnetic field not
observed in other satellites.
The innermost Galilean moon, Io, is perhaps the
most volcanically active body in our solar system. More
than 80 active, sulfurous volcanic centers have been dis-
covered. Umbrella-shaped plumes have been observed
rising from Io’s surface to heights exceeding 100 kilo-
meters (60 miles) (Figure 22.21A). The heat source for
volcanic activity is tidal energy generated by a relentless
“tug of war” between Jupiter and the other Galilean
C. Ganymede, the largest of the Jovian D. Callisto, the outermost of the satellites—with Io as the rope. The gravitational field
satellites, contains both smooth as Galilean satellites, is densely
well as cratered regions, which cratered, much like Earth’s Moon. of Jupiter and the other nearby satellites pull and push
suggest this body is still active. on Io’s tidal bulge as its slightly eccentric orbit takes it

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 679

alternately closer to and farther from

Jupiter. This gravitational flexing of
Io is transformed into heat (similar
to the back-and-forth bending of
a piece of sheet metal) and results
in Io’s spectacular sulfurous volca-
nic eruptions. Lava, thought to be
mainly composed of silicate ­minerals,
regularly erupts on its surface
(Figure 22.21B). This plume of volcanic gases
One of the best prospects of and debris is rising more than
100 kilometers (60 miles) above The bright red area on the left side of the
finding liquid water within our solar Io’s surface. image (see arrow) is newly erupted lava.
system lies beneath the icy surfaces
of some of Jupiter’s moons. For A. B.
example, detailed images from Gali- Figure 22.21 A
­ olcanic eruption on
v
leo have revealed that Europa’s icy surface is quite young
and exhibits cracks apparently filled with dark fluid from Saturn: The Elegant Planet ­Jupiter’s moon Io
(Photo by University of Arizona/
below. This suggests that under its icy shell, Europa Requiring more than 29 Earth years to make one revolu- JPL/NASA)
must have a warm, mobile interior—perhaps an ocean. tion, Saturn is almost twice as far from the Sun as Jupiter,
Because liquid water is a necessity for life as we know yet their atmospheres, compositions, and internal struc-
it, there is considerable interest in sending an orbiter to tures are remarkably similar. The most striking feature
Europa—and, eventually, a lander capable of launching a of Saturn is its system of rings, first observed by Galileo
robotic submarine—to determine whether it harbors life. in 1610 (Figure 22.22). Through his primitive telescope,
the rings appeared as two small bodies adjacent to the
Jupiter’s Rings One of the surprising aspects of the planet. Their ring nature was determined 50 years later
Voyager 1 mission was the discovery of Jupiter’s ring by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.
system. More recently, the ring system was thoroughly Saturn’s atmosphere, like Jupiter’s, is dynamic.
investigated by the Galileo mission. By analyzing how Although the bands of clouds are fainter and wider
these rings scatter light, researchers determined that the near the equator, rotating “storms” similar to Jupiter’s
rings are composed of fine, dark particles similar in size Great Red Spot occur in Saturn’s atmosphere, as does
to smoke particles. Furthermore, the faint nature of the intense lightning. Although the atmosphere is about
rings indicates that these minute particles are widely dis- 93 percent hydrogen and 3 percent helium by volume,
persed. The main ring is composed of particles believed the clouds (or condensed gases) are composed mainly
to be fragments blasted from the surfaces of Metis and of ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide, and water,
Adrastea, two small moons of Jupiter. Impacts on Jupiter’s each segregated by temperature. Also, much like Jupi-
moons Amalthea and Thebe are believed to be the source ter, Saturn emits roughly twice as much energy as it
of the debris from which the outer gossamer ring formed. receives from the Sun. This implies that it must have

Cassini division
Encke gap

A
B
Saturn D C

Figure 22.22 Saturn’s

major rings The two
bright rings, called A ring
(outer) and B ring (inner),
are separated by the
Cassini division. A second
small gap (Encke gap) is
also visible as a thin line in
the outer portion of the A
ring. (Courtesy of NASA)

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 680 Earth Science

an internal heat source, which may come from chemi- Saturn’s Ring System In the early 1980s, the nuclear-
cal differentiation in its interior. powered Voyagers 1 and 2 explored Saturn to within
160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles) of its cloud tops.
Saturn’s Moons The Saturnian satellite system con- More information was collected about Saturn in that
sists of 62 known moons, of which 53 have been named. short time than had been acquired since Galileo first
The moons vary significantly in size, shape, surface age, viewed this “elegant planet” in the early 1600s. More
and origin. Some of the moons are “original” satellites recently, observations from ground-based telescopes,
that formed in tandem with their parent planet. Most of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Cassini-Huygens
Saturn’s smallest moons have irregular shapes and are spacecraft, have added to our knowledge of Saturn’s ring
only a few tens of kilometers in diameter. system. In 1995 and 1996, when the positions of Earth
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is larger than Mercury and Saturn allowed the rings to be viewed edge-on, Sat-
and is the second-largest satellite in the solar system. urn’s faintest rings and satellites became visible. (The
Titan and Neptune’s Triton are the only satellites in the rings were visible edge-on again in 2009.)
solar system known to have substantial atmospheres. Saturn’s ring system is more like a large rotating disk
Titan was visited and photographed by the Cassini-­ of varying density and brightness than a series of inde-
Huygens probe in 2005. The atmospheric pressure at pendent ringlets. Each ring is composed of individual
Titan’s surface is about 1.5 times that at Earth’s surface, particles—mainly water ice, with lesser amounts of rocky
and the atmospheric composition is about 98 percent debris—that circle the planet while regularly impacting
nitrogen and 2 percent methane, with trace organic one another. There are only a few gaps; most of the areas
compounds. Titan has Earth-like landforms and geologic that look like empty space contain either fine dust particles
processes, such as dune formation and streamlike e­ rosion or coated ice particles that are inefficient light reflectors.
caused by methane “rain.” In addition, the northern Most of Saturn’s rings fall into one of two categories,
­latitudes appear to have lakes of liquid methane. based on density. Saturn’s main (bright) rings, designated
Enceladus is another unique satellite of Saturn— A and B, are tightly packed and contain particles rang-
one of a few icy moons that erupt “fluid” ice containing ing in size from a few centimeters (pebble-size) to tens
minor amounts of other debris. This amazing manifesta- of meters (house-size), with most of the particles being
tion of volcanism, called cryovolcanism (from the Greek roughly the size of a large snowball (see Figure 22.22). In
kryos, meaning “frost”) describes the eruption of magmas these dense rings, particles collide frequently as they orbit
derived from the partial melting of ice instead of silicate the planet. Although Saturn’s main rings (A and B) are
rocks (Figure 22.23). In the south polar region, areas 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) wide, they are very thin,
called “tiger stripes,” consisting of large fractures with only 10 to 30 meters (30 to 100 feet) from top to bottom.
ridges on either side, erupt geyserlike plumes. The mate- At the other extreme are Saturn’s faint rings. Saturn’s
rial ejected by these eruptions is thought to be the source outermost ring (E ring), not visible in Figure 22.22, is
of material that replenishes Saturn’s E ring. composed of widely dispersed, tiny particles. Recall that
cryovolcanism (eruption of a water-ice mixture) on Sat-
urn’s satellite Enceladus is thought to be the source of
material for the E ring.
Studies have shown that the gravitational tugs of
nearby moons tend to “shepherd” the ring particles by
gravitationally altering their orbits (Figure 22.24). For
example, the F ring, which is very narrow, appears to be
the work of satellites located on either side that confine
the ring by pulling back particles that try to escape.
On the other hand, the Cassini division, a clearly visible
gap in Figure 22.22, arises from the gravitational pull of
Figure 22.23
Mimas, one of Saturn’s moons.
Enceladus, one of
Saturn’s tectonically
Some of the ring particles are believed to be debris
active, icy satellites ejected from the moons embedded in the rings. It is also
Enceladus has active Tiger possible that material is continually recycled between
linear features, called tiger stripes the rings and the ring moons. The ring moons gradually
stripes, which are a source sweep up particles, which are subsequently ejected by
region for cryovolcanic collisions with large chunks of ring material, or perhaps
activity. Inset image shows
by energetic collisions with other moons. It seems, then,
jets spurting ice particles,
water, and organic
that planetary rings are not the timeless features that we
compounds from the once thought; rather, they are continually recycled.
area of the tiger stripes. The origin of planetary ring systems is still being
(Courtesy of NASA) debated. Saturn’s rings probably formed when objects

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 681

Encke gap Moon

Moon

A. Pan is a small moon about 30 kilometers in B. Prometheus, a potato-shaped moon, acts

diameter that orbits in the Encke gap, located as a ring shepherd. Its gravity helps confine
in the A ring. It is responsible for keeping the the particles that make up Saturn’s thin Fring.
Encke gap open by sweeping up any stray
material that may enter.
Figure 22.24 Two of Saturn’s ring moons (Courtesy of NASA)

like comets, asteroids, or perhaps even moons were both bluish in appearance, as
pulled apart by Saturn’s strong gravity. Pieces of these a result of methane in their
objects would have collided with each other, breaking atmospheres. Their days are
Figure 22.25 Uranus,
into even smaller pieces. Collisions among these frag- nearly the same length, and their cores are made of rocky surrounded by its major
ments would tend to jostle one another and cause them to silicates and iron—similar to the other Jovian planets. rings and a few of its
spread out to form the flat, thin ring system we observe Their mantles, made mainly of water, ammonia, and known moons Also
today. Saturn’s rings, as well as those of the other planets, methane, are thought to be very different from those of visible in this image are
are thought to be short-lived compared to the age of our Jupiter and Saturn. One of the most pronounced differ- cloud patterns and several
solar system. This means that Saturn probably lacked ences between Uranus and Neptune is the time they take oval storm systems. This
false-color image was
rings early in its history, and its existing ring system will to complete one revolution around the Sun—84 and 165
generated from data
likely dissipate in the distant future. Earth years, respectively. obtained by Hubble’s Near
Infrared Camera. (Courtesy
Uranus: The Sideways Planet Unique to Uranus is
Uranus and Neptune: Twins the orientation of its axis of rotation. Whereas the other
of NASA)

Although Earth and Venus have many similar traits, planets resemble spinning toy tops as they circle the Sun,
Uranus and Neptune are perhaps more deserving of Uranus is like a top that has been knocked on its side but
being called “twins.” They are nearly equal in diameter remains spinning (Figure 22.25). This unusual character-
(both about four times the size of Earth), and they are istic of Uranus is likely due to one or more impacts that

EYE on the UNIVERSE 22.2

In 2012, the Hubble Space Telescope captured these images of auroras above
the giant planet Uranus. These light shows on Uranus appear to last for only a few
minutes and consist of faint glowing dots. These are unlike auroras on Earth, which
can color the sky shades of green, red, or purple for hours.

QUESTION 1 What is unusual about the location of the auroras on Uranus?

QUESTION 2 What does this indicate about the locations of Uranus’s “north” and
“south” magnetic poles?
Photo by NASA

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 682 Earth Science

Figure 22.26 ­Neptune’s Uranus has at least 10 sharp-edged, distinct rings orbit-

dynamic ­atmosphere ing its equatorial region. Interspersed among these dis-
(Courtesy of NASA)
tinct structures are broad sheets of dust.

Neptune: The Windy Planet Because of Neptune’s

great distance from Earth, astronomers knew very little
Great dark spot about this planet until 1989. Twelve years and nearly 3
billion miles of Voyager 2 travel provided investigators an
amazing opportunity to view the outermost planet.
Neptune has a dynamic atmosphere, much like that
of the other Jovian planets (Figure 22.26). Record wind
speeds approaching 2400 kilometers (1500 miles) per
Cirrus-like clouds
hour encircle the planet, making Neptune the windiest
places in the solar system. Neptune also exhibits large
dark spots, thought to be rotating storms similar to Jupi-
Dark spot with ter’s Great Red Spot. However, Neptune’s storms appear
bright core to have comparatively short life spans—usually only a few
years. Another feature that Neptune has in common with
Uranus is layers of white, cirrus-like clouds (probably
frozen methane) about 50 kilometers (30 miles) above the
main cloud deck.

Neptune’s Moons Neptune has 14 known satellites,

essentially knocked the planet sideways from its original the largest of which is Triton; the remaining 13 are small,
orientation early in its evolution. irregularly shaped bodies (Figure 22.27). Like Enceladus,
Uranus shows evidence of huge storm systems larger Triton exhibits cryovolcanism. Triton’s icy magma is a
than Earth’s continents. Recent photographs from the mixture of water ice, methane, and probably ammonia.
Hubble Space Telescope also reveal banded clouds com- When partially melted, this mixture behaves as molten
Figure 22.27 Triton, posed mainly of ammonia and methane ice—similar to rock does on Earth. In fact, upon reaching the surface,
Neptune’s largest the cloud systems of the other Jovian planets. these magmas can generate quiet outpourings of ice lavas
moon The bottom of that can flow great distances from their source—similar
the image shows Triton’s Uranus’s Moons Spectacular views from Voyager 2 to the fluid basaltic flows on Hawaii. They also occasion-
wind- and sublimation- showed that Uranus’s five largest moons have varied ter- ally produce explosive eruptions that can generate the ice
eroded south polar cap.
rains. Some have long, deep canyons and linear scars, equivalent of volcanic ash. In 1989, Voyager 2 detected
Sublimation is the process
whereby a solid (ice) whereas others possess large, smooth areas on otherwise active plumes on Triton that rose 8 kilometers (5 miles)
changes directly to a gas. crater-riddled surfaces. Studies conducted at NASA’s above the surface and were blown downwind for more
(Courtesy of NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory suggest that Miranda, the than 100 kilometers (60 miles).
innermost of the five largest
moons, was recently geologi- Neptune’s Rings Neptune has five named rings; two of
cally active—most likely driven them are broad, and three are narrow, perhaps no more
by gravitational heating, as than 100 kilometers (60 miles) wide. The outermost ring
occurs on Io. appears to be partially confined by the satellite Galatea.
Neptune’s rings, like Jupiter’s, appear faint, which sug-
Uranus’s Rings A surprise gests that they are composed mostly of dust-size par-
discovery in 1977 showed that ticles. Neptune’s rings also display red colors, indicating
Uranus has a ring system. The that the dust is composed of organic compounds.
discovery was made as Ura-
nus passed in front of a dis-
tant star and blocked its view, Concept Checks 22.4
a process called occultation 1. What is the nature of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?
(occult = hidden). Observ-
2. What is distinctive about Jupiter’s satellite Io?
ers saw the star “wink” briefly
five times (meaning five rings) 3. How are Jupiter and Saturn similar to one another?
before the primary occultation 4. What two roles do ring moons play in the nature of
and again five times afterward. planetary ring systems?
More recent ground- and space- 5. How are Saturn’s satellite Titan and Neptune’s
based observations indicate that satellite Triton similar to one another?

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 683

22.5 Small Solar System Bodies

List and describe the principal characteristics of the small bodies that inhabit the solar system.

There are countless chunks of debris in the vast spaces

Earth-crossing Asteroid belt
separating the eight planets and in the outer reaches of asteroids
the solar system. In 2006, the International Astronomical
Union organized solar system objects not classified as plan-
ets or moons into two broad categories: (1) small solar
system bodies, including asteroids, comets, and meteor-
oids, and (2) dwarf planets. The newest grouping, dwarf Mars
Earth
planets, includes Ceres, a body about 1000 kilometers
(600 miles) in diameter and the largest-known object in
the asteroid belt, and Pluto, formerly considered a planet.
Jupiter
Asteroids and meteoroids are compositionally quite
similar, both being composed of rocky and/or metallic
material similar to that which makes up the terrestrial
planets. They are usually distinguished by size, with Figure 22.28 The
Most asteroids, however, are small and have irregu- asteroid belt The orbits
asteroids being much larger than meteoroids, although of most asteroids lie
the exact size difference is not well defined. Comets, lar shapes, which led planetary geologists to conclude
between Mars and Jupiter.
on the other hand, are collections of ices, with lesser that they are leftover debris from the solar nebula. In Also shown in red are the
amounts of dust and small rocky particles. Comets addition, these small asteroids have densities lower orbits of a few known near-
mainly inhabit the outer reaches of the solar system. than scientists originally predicted, indicating that Earth asteroids.
they are relatively porous bodies, like “piles of rubble,”
loosely bound together by their weak gravitational fields
Asteroids: Leftover Planetesimals (Figure 22.29).
Asteroids are small bodies (planetesimals) that remain In February 2001, an American spacecraft became
from the formation of the solar system, which means they the first visitor to an asteroid. Although it was not
are about 4.6 billion years old. The orbits of more than designed for landing, NEAR Shoemaker landed success-
100,000 asteroids have been accurately measured, and fully on Eros and collected information that has plan-
thousands more have orbits that are incompletely known, etary geologists both intrigued and perplexed. Images
keeping them off the “official” list. obtained as the spacecraft drifted toward the surface
Most asteroids orbit the Sun between Mars and of Eros revealed a barren, rocky surface composed of
Jupiter, in the region known as the asteroid belt particles ranging in size from fine dust to boulders up
­(Figure 22.28). There are only about 2 dozen asteroids to 10 meters (30 feet) across. Researchers unexpectedly
that are more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) across. discovered that fine debris tends to concentrate in the
However, our solar system hosts an estimated 1 to
2 ­million asteroids larger than 1 kilometer (0.6 mile)
across and many millions that are smaller. Figure 22.29 Asteroid Itokawa The barren
rocky surface of asteroid Itokawa appears to be
A smaller number of asteroids travel along eccentric
a pile of rubble held together by the asteroid’s
orbits that take them near the Sun, and about 1300 of weak gravitational field. This potato-shaped
these, called Earth-crossing asteroids, will eventually asteroid orbits between Mars and Jupiter and is
collide with Earth. Many of the recent large impact cra- only about 0.5 kilometers across—about the size
ters discovered on Earth resulted from collisions with of five football fields. (Courtesy of Japan Aerospace
asteroids. Although these events are rare, they merit our Exploration Agency)

attention because of their potential destruction. As a

result, observational initiatives that aim to measure aster-
oid orbits with great accuracy are ongoing.

Asteroid Structure and Composition The largest

asteroids are roughly spherical because, as for planets
and large moons, gravity determines their shape. Indi-
rect evidence from meteorites suggests that the largest
asteroids were heated by impact events early in their his-
tory, which caused them to melt. This resulted in an early
period of chemical differentiation that produced their
dense iron-rich cores and rocky mantles.

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 684 Earth Science

are loose collections of rocky material, dust, water

Gas tail swept back
by solar wind ice, and frozen gases (ammonia, methane, and car-
bon dioxide), thus the nickname “dirty snowballs.”
Recent space missions to comets have shown their
surfaces to be dry and dusty, which indicates that
their ices are hidden beneath a layer of rocky debris.
Most comets reside in the outer reaches of the
solar system and take hundreds of thousands of years
to complete a single orbit around the Sun. However,
Dust tail is pushed by sunlight a smaller number of short-period comets (those hav-
Tails point ing orbital periods of less than 200 years), such as the
away from
the Sun Sun famous Halley’s Comet, make regular encounters with
the inner solar system (Figure 22.30). The shortest-period
comet (Encke’s Comet) orbits the Sun once every 3 years.
Tails form
when comet Coma begins
is about to form when Structure and Composition of Comets The phenomena
1 AU from comet is about associated with comets come from a small central body
Sun 5 AU from Orbit
Sun called the nucleus. These structures are typically 1 to
10 kilometers in diameter, but comet nuclei 40 kilometers
across have been observed. When a comet comes within
Figure 22.30 Changing about 5 AU of the Sun, solar energy heats its surface suf-
orientation of a comet’s low areas, where it forms flat deposits resembling ponds. ficiently to cause its icy components to begin to vaporize
tail as it orbits the Surrounding the low areas, the landscape is marked by into gas. The escaping gases carry dust from the comet’s
Sun (Photo by Dan Schechter/ an abundance of large boulders. One of several hypoth- surface, producing a huge dusty atmosphere called a coma
Science Source) (Figure 22.31). As a comet approaches the inner solar
eses to explain the boulder-strewn topography is seismic
shaking, which would cause the boulders to move upward system, the coma grows, and some of the dust and gas is
as the finer materials sink. This is analogous to what pushed away from the Sun to form the comet’s tails, which
happens when a jar of sand and various-sized pebbles can grow to hundreds of millions of kilometers in length.
is shaken: The larger pebbles rise to the top, while the Bright comets have two visible tails: a dark blue tail
smaller sand grains settle to the bottom (sometimes that points straight away from the Sun and a brighter tail
referred to as the Brazil-nut effect). that points away from the Sun but also curves slightly in
the direction from which the comet came. Scientists have
Figure 22.31 Coma
and nucleus of Comet Exploring Asteroids In November 2005, the Japa- determined the mechanisms that account for the forma-
Holmes The nucleus nese probe Hayabusa made a soft landing on a small tion of these tails. The faint, straight gas tail consists of
of Comet Holmes is the near-Earth asteroid named Itokawa and picked up some ionized cometary gases that are pushed away from the
bright yellow spot within rocky debris before returning to Earth in June 2010 (see coma by the pressure of the solar wind of charged par-
the reddish-orange coma. ticles emitted by the Sun. The brighter, curved dust tail
Figure 22.29). Chemical analyses of samples from this
(Courtesy of NASA)
mission show that the surface of consists of dust particles that are pushed away from the
this asteroid is nearly identical in coma by the much weaker pressure of sunlight (radia-
composition to rocky meteorites. tion pressure). The dust tail is curved because its bright,
This finding strongly supports relatively slow-moving particles record how the direction
the idea that asteroids are the toward the Sun changes as the comet moves along its orbit.
source of most meteoroids large As a comet’s orbit carries it away from the Sun, the
enough to reach Earth’s surface. gases forming the coma dissipate, the tails disappear, and
Hayabusa 2, launched in the comet returns to cold storage. Material that was blown
2014, is expected to land on its from the coma to form the tails is lost forever. When all
target (asteroid 1999 JU3) in July the gases are expelled, the inactive comet continues its
2018. After exploring this aster- orbit without a coma or tail. Sometimes the comet literally
oid by digging into its surface to disintegrates into small fragments that continue to orbit
extract fresh samples, it is sched- the Sun. Scientists believe that few comets remain active
uled to return to Earth in 2020. for more than a few hundred close orbits of the Sun.
In 2015 the Rosetta spacecraft, launched by the
European Space Agency, obtained a close-up image of
Comets: Dirty Snowballs the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Comets, like asteroids, are left- that offered a new perspective on the extent of the
over material from the forma- comet’s activity. Figure 22.32 shows jets of gas and dust
tion of the solar system. They emanating from the central region of the nucleus and

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 685

comets we observe in the inner solar system, probably

because relatively small objects are more likely to have
their orbits altered than are larger bodies.
Kuiper belt objects are thought to be leftover plan-
etesimals that formed and remain in the frigid outer
reaches of the solar system. Interactions with other
nearby bodies or the gravitational influence of one of the
Jovian planets occasionally alters their orbits sufficiently
to send them into our view.
Named for Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, the Oort
cloud consists of icy planetesimals that form a roughly
spherical shell around the outer reaches of the solar
system (Figure 22.33B). Oort cloud objects have random
Figure 22.32 Jets of gas and dust erupting from the orbits at distances often greater than 50,000 times the
nucleus of Comet 67P This comet’s full name is Comet
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko; like most other comets, it is
Earth–Sun distance. This places them at nearly half the
named after its discoverers. It is a regular visitor to the inner distance to Proxima Centauri, the star nearest the Sun.
solar system, orbiting the Sun every 6.5 years. (Courtesy of These icy objects are so loosely bound to the solar system
European Space Agency) that the gravitational effect of a distant passing star may
send an occasional Oort cloud body into a highly eccentric
orbit that carries it toward the Sun. Because most com-
extending toward the upper right of the image. This ets that enter the inner solar system have random orbits,
image also shows the nebulous glow of material escaping these are assumed to have come from the Oort cloud.
the bright sunlit surface of the comet. The Oort cloud is estimated to contain at least a
trillion comets. How did so many comets end up in
The Realm of Comets: The Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud the outer reaches of the solar system? The most widely
Most comets originate in one of two regions: the Kuiper accepted hypothesis is that these bodies formed early
belt or the Oort cloud. Named in honor of astronomer in our solar system’s history, in the region occupied by
Gerald Kuiper, who predicted its existence, the Kuiper the still-­developing Jovian planets. Rather than being
belt hosts a large group of icy objects that reside in the ­captured by one of these growing planets, the comets
outer solar system, beyond the orbit of Neptune. Pluto’s were ­gravitationally flung in all directions.
orbit lies within the Kuiper belt, and in 2005 scientists dis-
covered Eris, a Kuiper belt body more massive than Pluto.
Like most bodies located in the inner solar system, Meteors, Meteoroids, and Meteorites
Kuiper belt comets orbit the Sun in the same ­direction Nearly everyone has seen meteors, commonly (but inac-
and along roughly the same plane as the planets curately) called “shooting stars.” These streaks of light can
­(Figure 22.33A). This disc-shaped structure is thought to be observed in as little as the blink of an eye or can last
contain about 100,000 bodies more than 100 kilometers
(60 miles) across, as well as many smaller objects. The
largest Kuiper belt objects are much larger than the
Oort cloud
Figure 22.33 The
realm of the comets:
The Oort cloud and
Kuiper belt Most
Kuiper belt comets reside in
one of two places.
Neptune A. Located beyond
Saturn the orbit of Neptune
Jupiter is the Kuiper belt, a
Uranus disk of icy objects
with roughly circular
orbits that travel in the
same direction as the
planets. B. The Oort
50 AU cloud is a spherical
cloud containing icy
A. Kuiper belt planetesimals located
roughly 50,000 times
50,000 AU
farther from the Sun
B. Oort cloud than Earth.

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 688 Earth Science

One hypothesis proposes that Sputnik

Planitia began as a large impact basin,
much like the large impact basins, called
maria, on the Moon (see Figure 22.7).
Once formed, the impact basin on Pluto
began to fill with nitrogen ice, rather than
Blocks of water-ice basaltic magma, like the maria on the
Moon. Pluto’s atmosphere, a tenuous layer
of gases consisting mainly of nitrogen,
Sputnik is thought to be the source of nitrogen
Planum ice that blankets Sputnik Planitia. Two
processes are involved: sublimation (the
change of a solid directly to a gas) of
nitrogen ice in regions where the planet
receives the most direct sunlight, and
deposition of nitrogen gas to form ice in
Edge of Sputnik Planum's ice field the much colder impact basin.

A. B.
What’s Next Having completed its flyby
of Pluto, New Horizons changed course and
Figure 22.36 Images of Pluto obtained from NASA’s New Horizons was aimed at another icy Kuiper belt object about 40 kilo-
spacecraft A. This enhanced color image was generated to detect differences in the
meters (25 miles) in diameter. A close encounter with this
composition and texture of Pluto’s surface. The bright area in the lower central region,
informally named Sputnik Planitia, consists mainly of soft, nitrogen-rich ices that, in some tiny icy object is expected to occur January 1, 2019.
locations, appear to flow like glaciers on Earth. (Photo by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/NASA) B. This close-up view shows Sputnik Planitia in the
lower right, which in this region forms a nearly level plane broken into cellular units. The Concept Checks 22.5
area in the upper left consists of blocks of water-ice, some standing almost 2.5 kilometers
(about 1.5 miles) above the surrounding plains. (Courtesy of NASA) 1. Compare and contrast asteroids and comets.
Where are most asteroids found?
type of convective flow, whereby upwelling of nitrogen ice
2. Where are most comets thought to reside? What
occurs in the center of the cells, which spreads out along
eventually becomes of comets that orbit close to
the surface and eventually sinks at the linear troughs. the Sun?
This convective model is supported by the nearly 100-
meter (300-foot) height difference between the centers 3. Differentiate among the following solar system
bodies: meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite.
of these cells and their lower margins. Because no cra-
ters were discovered on the surface of Sputnik Planitia, 4. What are the three main sources of meteoroids?
researchers conclude that its surface is relatively young— 5. What characteristic does a celestial body possess

22
less than 100 million years old. to be classified as a dwarf planet?

Concepts in Review
Touring Our Solar System
22.1 Our Solar System: An Overview
Describe the formation of the solar system according to the nebular theory. Compare and contrast the terrestrial and Jovian planets.
KEY TERMS: nebular theory, solar nebula, planetesimal, protoplanet, terrestrial (Earth-like) planet, Jovian (Jupiter-like) planet, escape velocity, impact crater

• Our Sun is the most massive body in our solar system, which includes planets, dwarf planets, moons, and other small bodies. The planets orbit in the
same direction and at speeds proportional to their distance from the Sun, with inner planets moving faster and outer planets moving more slowly.
• The solar system began as a solar nebula before condensing due to gravity. While most of the matter ended up in the Sun, some material formed a thick
disk around the early Sun and later clumped together into larger and larger bodies. Planetesimals collided to form protoplanets, and protoplanets grew
into planets.
• The four terrestrial planets are enriched in rocky and metallic materials, whereas the Jovian planets have a higher proportion of ice and gas. The
terrestrial planets are relatively dense, with thin atmospheres, while the Jovian planets are less dense and have thick atmospheres.
• Smaller planets have less gravity to retain gases in their atmosphere. Lightweight gases such as hydrogen and helium more easily reach escape velocity,
so the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets tend to be enriched in heavier gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 689

(22.4 continued)
22.2 Earth’s Moon: A Chip Off the Old Block • Uranus, like its “twin” Neptune, has a blue atmosphere dominated by
List and describe the major features of Earth’s Moon and explain how methane, and its diameter is about four times greater than Earth’s.
maria basins were formed. Uranus rotates sideways relative to the plane of the solar system. It has a
relatively thin ring system and at least five moons.
KEY TERMS: maria, lunar highlands, lunar regolith
• Neptune has an active atmosphere, with fierce wind speeds and
• The Moon has a composition that is approximately the same as that of giant storms. It has 1 large moon, Triton, which shows evidence of
Earth’s mantle. The Moon likely formed from a collision between a cryovolcanism, as well as 13 smaller moons and a ring system.
Mars-sized protoplanet and the early Earth.
• The lunar surface is dominated by light-colored lunar highlands (or
terrae) and darker lowlands called maria, the latter formed primarily
from flood basalts. Both terrae and maria are partially covered by lunar
22.5 Small Solar System Bodies
List and describe the principal characteristics of the small bodies that
regolith produced by micrometeorite bombardment. inhabit the solar system.
? Briefly describe how our Moon formed and how its formation KEY TERMS: small solar system body, dwarf planet, asteroid, asteroid belt,
accounts for its low density compared to that of Earth. comet, nucleus, coma, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, meteor, meteoroid, meteor
shower, meteorite

22.3 Terrestrial Planets • Small solar system bodies include rocky asteroids and icy comets. Both
are basically scraps left over from the formation of the solar system or
Outline the principal characteristics of Mercury, Venus, and Mars. fragments from later impacts.
Describe their similarities to and differences from Earth.
• Most asteroids are concentrated in a wide belt between the orbits of Mars
• Mercury has a very thin atmosphere and a weak magnetic field. Like and Jupiter. Some are rocky, some are metallic, and some are basically
Earth’s moon, Mercury has both heavily cratered areas and smooth “piles of rubble,” loosely held together by their own weak gravity.
plains; the smooth plains are similar to lunar maria. • Comets are dominated by ices, “dirtied” by rocky material and dust.
• Venus has a very dense atmosphere, dominated by carbon dioxide. The Most originate in either the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune or the Oort
resulting extreme greenhouse effect produces surface temperatures cloud. When a comet’s orbit brings it through the inner solar system,
around 450°C (900°F). The topography of Venus has been resurfaced by solar radiation causes its ices to vaporize, generating the coma and its
active volcanism. characteristic “tail.”
• Mars has about 1 percent as much atmosphere as Earth, so it is • A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body traveling through space.
relatively cold ( - 140°C to 20°C [ - 220°F to 68°F]). Mars appears to When it enters Earth’s atmosphere, it flares briefly as a meteor before
be the closest planetary analog to Earth, showing surface evidence of either burning up or striking Earth’s surface to become a meteorite.
rifting, volcanism, and Asteroids and material lost from comets as they travel through the inner
modification by flowing solar system are the most common sources of meteoroids.
water. Volcanoes on • Bodies massive enough to have a spherical shape but not so massive as to
Mars are much bigger 500
Venus have cleared their orbits of debris are classified as dwarf planets. They
than volcanoes on Earth 400 include the rocky asteroid Ceres as well as the icy worlds Pluto and Eris,
because of the lack of which are located in the Kuiper belt.
Temperature (°C)

plate motion on Mars. 300

? Shown here are four small solar system bodies. Identify each and
? As you can see from 200 explain the differences among them.
this graph, Mercury’s
100
temperature varies
significantly from “day” 0
to “night,” but Venus’s
temperature is relatively –100
constant “around the –200
Mercury
clock.” Suggest a reason

National Science Foundation

Time (1 day)
for this difference.
Muellek Josef/Shutterstock

22.4 Jovian Planets

Summarize and compare the features of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune, including their ring systems.
KEY TERMS: cryovolcanism

• Jupiter’s mass is several times larger than the combined mass of

everything else in the solar system except for the Sun. Convective flow, NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCAL/MPS/DLR/IDA
Jerry Schad/Photo Researchers, Inc.

combined with its three cloud layers, produces its characteristic banded
appearance. Persistent, giant rotating storms exist between these bands.
Many moons orbit Jupiter, including Io, which shows active volcanism,
and Europa, which is believed to have a liquid ocean under its icy shell.
• Saturn, like Jupiter, is big, gaseous, and endowed with dozens of moons.
Some moons show evidence of tectonics, while Titan has its own
atmosphere. Saturn’s well-developed rings are made of many particles of
water ice and rocky debris.

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 690 Earth Science

GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT

1 Assume that a solar system was discovered in a nearby region of the 4 This sketch shows four primary craters (A, B, C, and D). The impact
Milky Way Galaxy. The accompanying table shows data that have been that produced Crater A produced two secondary craters (labeled a) and
gathered about three of the planets orbiting the central star of this three rays. Crater D has one secondary crater (labeled d). Rank the
newly discovered solar system. Using Table 22.1 as a guide, classify four primary craters from oldest to youngest and explain your ranking.
each planet as Jovian, terrestrial, or neither. Explain your reasoning.

Planet 1 Planet 2 Planet 3

Relative Mass (Earth = 1) 1.2 15 0.1
Diameter (km) 11,000 52,000 2200 a C
Mean Distance from Star (AU) 1.4 17 35 d
Density (g/cm3) 4.8 1.22 1.8
Orbital Eccentricity 0.01 0.05 0.23

2 In order to conceptualize the size and scale of Earth and Moon as they D
relate to the rest of the solar system, complete the following:
a. Approximately how many Moons (diameter 3475 kilometers
[2160 miles]) would fit side by side across the diameter of Earth A
(diameter 12,756 kilometers [7926 miles])? a
B
b. Given that the Moon’s orbital radius is 384,798 kilometers, approxi-
mately how many Earths would fit side by side between Earth and
the Moon?
c. Approximately how many Earths would fit side by side across the Ray
Sun, whose diameter is about 1,390,000 kilometers?
d. Approximately how many Suns would fit side by side between
5 Halley’s Comet has a mass estimated at 100 billion tons. Furthermore,
Earth and the Sun, a distance of about 150,000,000 kilometers?
it is estimated to lose about 100 million tons of material when its orbit
3 The accompanying graph shows the temperatures at various distances brings it close to the Sun. With an orbital period of 76 years, calculate
from the Sun during the formation of our solar system. (You can the maximum remaining life span of Halley’s Comet.
assume that the planets formed at roughly their current distances
6 The accompanying diagram shows two of Uranus’s moons, Ophelia
from the Sun, although that may not be strictly true.) Use it to answer
and Cordelia, which act as shepherd moons for the Epsilon ring.
the following:
Explain what would happen to the Epsilon ring if a large asteroid
a. Which planet or planets formed at locations in the solar system
struck Ophelia, knocking it out of the Uranian system.
where the temperature was hotter than the boiling point of water?
b. Which planet or planets formed at locations in the solar system
where the temperature was cooler than the freezing point of Epsilon ring
water?
Condition Temperature Temperature
(Fahrenheit) (kelvin) Ophelia
Water freezes 32 199
Room temp. 72 296
2000 Human body 98.6 310
Mercury Water boils 212 373 Cordelia
1000 Venus
Earth
Temperature (kelvin)

Mars
500

200 Jupiter
Saturn
100 7 Assume that three irregularly shaped planet-like objects, each smaller
Uranus
Neptune than our Moon, have just been discovered orbiting the Sun at a dis-
50
tance of 35 AU. One of your friends argues that the objects should be
classified as planets because they are large and orbit the Sun. Another
20
friend argues that the objects should be classified as dwarf planets, like
0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10 20 50 Pluto. State whether you agree or disagree with either or both of your
Distance from the Sun (AU)
friends. Explain your reasoning.

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 Chapter 22 Touring Our Solar System 691

EXAMINING THE EARTH SYSTEM

1 On Earth the four major spheres (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geo- 2 Among the planets in our solar system, Earth is unique because water
sphere, and biosphere) interact as a system with occasional influences exists in all three states (solid, liquid, and gas) on and near its surface.
from our near-space neighbors. Which of these spheres are absent, or In what state(s) of matter is water found on Mars?
nearly absent, on the Moon? Because the Moon lacks these spheres, a. How would Earth’s hydrologic cycle be different if its orbit were
list at least five processes that operate on Earth but are absent on the inside the orbit of Venus?
Moon. b. How might Earth’s hydrologic cycle be different if its orbit were
outside the orbit of Mars?

DATA ANALYSIS
Topography of Venus
Rocky planets and natural satellites exhibit geology only recently photo- Viewer. Check the box next to Venus Global GIS and add only the Nomen-
graphed by passing spacecraft. Impact craters are present on every rocky clature layer. To display the legend, click the + next to the Nomenclature
planet, but these features are not preserved in the same way on all planets. box, then click the + next to the Venus Nomenclature label.
Activities 4 Based on the colors on the map, what is the most commonly named
feature on Venus?
Go to the USGS Astrogeology Science Center at [Link]
and click on Planetary Nomenclature at the bottom of the page. Click on 5 Check the box next to Volcanic Catalogs, and click the + next to that
Nomenclature and select Venus. To navigate these data, hover over a fea- box. Then check only the box next to USGS Venus Volcano Catalog
ture type in the list to see a short description of the feature. Click on the 1999 layer. How common are volcanoes on Venus, compared to other
feature type to see a table of named features of this type. You can reorder features?
column data by clicking on the up and down arrows at the top of selected Now uncheck the Venus Global GIS box. Without closing the Venus map
columns, such as name or diameter. (Note that reordering the table may tab, go back to the Planetary Names tab, and in a second window, open the
take a minute or two.) Lunar Global GIS map by choosing The Moon from the Nomenclature
1 Click on Crater, Craters to examine the craters of Venus. How many list and clicking Lunar Map under Interactive Images & Maps. Then open
of the planet’s craters have been named? What is the name of the larg- the Moon Global GIS Viewer. Do the same for Mars: in a third window,
est approved crater on Venus? What is its diameter? open the Mars Global GIS map by choosing Mars from the Nomenclature
list, then select Mars to display a list of its features. Click on Map of Mars
2 Note that the largest crater in the list has been disallowed. In fact, under Interactive Images & Maps, and open the Mars Global GIS Viewer.
it has been reclassified as a corona. The exact origin of coronae is Compare the Venus, Mars, and Lunar maps. You will need to zoom in and
unknown, but they appear to be unique to Venus. Go back to the pan around to see surface features clearly.
Venus: Search by Feature Types page and click on Corona, Coronae.
How many coronae have been named on Venus? 6 Rank these bodies from most densely packed craters to least densely
packed craters. On which body are craters most easily distinguished?
3 What is the name of the largest corona? What is its diameter?
7 Based on what you have learned from this chapter, suggest reasons
Return to the Venus: Search by Feature Types page, then click on Venus why craters on Venus differ in size, shape, and density compared to
Map under Interactive Images & Maps. Click on the Venus Global GIS craters on Mars and Earth’s moon.

Looking for additional review and test prep materials? Visit the Study Area in MasteringGeology to enhance
your understanding of this chapter’s content by accessing a variety of resources, including Self-Study Quizzes,
Geoscience Animations, SmartFigure Tutorials, Mobile Field Trips, Project Condor Quadcopter videos, In the News articles, flashcards, web links, and
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