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Quiz about Astrogeology I Rocky Planets and Moons
Quiz about Astrogeology I Rocky Planets and Moons

Astrogeology I-- Rocky Planets and Moons Quiz


Geology doesn't just apply to the Earth! Explore the geology of Mercury, Venus, Mars, the Moon, and assorted asteroids!

A multiple-choice quiz by pu2-ke-qi-ri. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
pu2-ke-qi-ri
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
209,280
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
1120
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Mercury is covered with a particular type of low-angle fault known as a thrust fault. What was the likely reason the thrust faults formed? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Mechanical and chemical weathering from water forms most of the dust on the Earth. What produces dust on bodies which obviously lack water, like Mercury and the Moon? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Much ado is made about the extreme greenhouse effect on Venus, and how the Earth could end up like Venus if humans continue pumping out greenhouse gasses. However, the risk of the Earth turning into Venus is actually fairly small. The Earth-- but not Venus-- has a nice and convenient feature that can trap a good bit of a planet's supply of carbon dioxide. What is it? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Venus is still geologically active. However, instead of plate tectonics, the planet seems to periodically recycle its entire crust! What is the evidence for this? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The moon has earthquakes (should that be moonquakes?)


Question 6 of 10
6. The lunar maria (the dark areas) and the lunar highlands (the light areas) are made up of different types of rocks. The highland areas are mostly anorthosites. What are the maria made of? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano (and largest mountain) in the entire solar system. On Earth, there are two types of volcanoes-- gently sloping shield volcanoes, like the Hawaiian Islands, and steep-sided cinder cone volcanoes, like Mount Vesuvius and Mount Saint Helens. Which type is Olympus Mons?

Answer: (Either "shield volcano" or "cinder cone volcano")
Question 8 of 10
8. Today, Mars does not have an appreciable magnetic field, like the Earth. However, there is evidence that Mars had a magnetic field at some time in the past. What is the evidence for this? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Valles Marineris on Mars is the largest valley in the solar system. It is 5 to 7 km deep and about as long as the United States. Geologically speaking, what sort of valley is it? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Asteroids in the asteroid belt can be made of several types of rocks. Which is NOT one of these? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Mercury is covered with a particular type of low-angle fault known as a thrust fault. What was the likely reason the thrust faults formed?

Answer: The interior of the planet shrank and cooled

Small bodies tend to cool faster than larger bodies. As the smallest rocky planet, Mercury was the first to cool. As the interior cooled it contracted. The crust hardened first, and so when it shrank, it cracked to form the large thrust faults. Some are 500 km long and 2 to 4 km high!
2. Mechanical and chemical weathering from water forms most of the dust on the Earth. What produces dust on bodies which obviously lack water, like Mercury and the Moon?

Answer: Both of these

Micrometeorites chip tiny dust grains off of rocks. Expansion and contraction of rocks due to extreme temperature differences between day and night (227 C to -173 C on Mercury) causes grains to flake off. Notice I did not include Venus in this question-- the thick atmosphere causes micrometeorites to burn up before they can hit the ground.

The dust layer, on the moon at least, is called regolith.
3. Much ado is made about the extreme greenhouse effect on Venus, and how the Earth could end up like Venus if humans continue pumping out greenhouse gasses. However, the risk of the Earth turning into Venus is actually fairly small. The Earth-- but not Venus-- has a nice and convenient feature that can trap a good bit of a planet's supply of carbon dioxide. What is it?

Answer: Oceans

Of course water can hold dissolved CO2-- that's how soft drinks work! Venus and the Earth probably began with similar amounts of H2O and CO2, given they are about the same size and have about the same composition. But, Venus was closer to the sun than the Earth, so Venus's oceans evaporated, and that was the end of things. Please don't take me to be a lover of belching smokestacks-- too much CO2 can cause big problems even though the problem would never become as extreme as on Venus!
4. Venus is still geologically active. However, instead of plate tectonics, the planet seems to periodically recycle its entire crust! What is the evidence for this?

Answer: The crust is lightly and evenly cratered

The surface is evenly and randomly cratered-- it is impossible to distinguish a map of the crater distribution on Venus from a map with a randomly generated crater distribution. From the total number of craters, it seems that the crust is only 200 million years old (On Earth at this time, dinosaurs were hot stuff!) So, what is going on here? With no plate tectonics to gradually get rid of heat, perhaps the heat built up to a point that either the entire crust melted, or it melted just enough to trigger a huge volcanic resurfacing of the entire planet.
5. The moon has earthquakes (should that be moonquakes?)

Answer: True

In one of those great accidents of science, the gravimeter included in the Apollo 17 instrument package had a design flaw, so it actually functioned as an ultra-sensitive seismometer! There are numerous small moonquakes. This is really helpful-- it's how we know anything about the structure of the moon's interior.
6. The lunar maria (the dark areas) and the lunar highlands (the light areas) are made up of different types of rocks. The highland areas are mostly anorthosites. What are the maria made of?

Answer: Basalt

The maria are made of basalt, just like seafloor rock on the Earth. However, Earth's highland areas, namely the continents, are mostly made up of granites. Anorthosites are very rare on the Earth, though they can be found in the Adirondack Mountains. Sandstones and carbonates are both sedimentary rocks, and so are not found on the moon.
7. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano (and largest mountain) in the entire solar system. On Earth, there are two types of volcanoes-- gently sloping shield volcanoes, like the Hawaiian Islands, and steep-sided cinder cone volcanoes, like Mount Vesuvius and Mount Saint Helens. Which type is Olympus Mons?

Answer: Shield Volcano

The difference is in the composition of the lava. Cinder cone volcanoes are made of calcium- and potassium-rich silicate rocks, and shield volcanoes are made of iron- and magnesium-rich silicate rocks. This is a really nifty way to tell something about the composition of the rocks when you can't get a sample from the surface!
8. Today, Mars does not have an appreciable magnetic field, like the Earth. However, there is evidence that Mars had a magnetic field at some time in the past. What is the evidence for this?

Answer: Some parts of the crust are magnetized

Some kinds of igneous rock contain tiny crystals of magnetite, a magnetic iron mineral. If the rock cools in the presence of a magnetic field, all the magnetite crystals line up in the direction of the field, like iron filings line up around a magnet. So, it seems Mars had an appreciable magnetic field. Why do we care? Life-- magnetic fields block some cosmic rays, which erode atmospheres and cause nasty mutations in organisms.
9. Valles Marineris on Mars is the largest valley in the solar system. It is 5 to 7 km deep and about as long as the United States. Geologically speaking, what sort of valley is it?

Answer: A rift valley, like Africa's Rift Valley

Rift valleys form from tectonic activity. A bubble of warm mantle rock wells up under some part of the crust. The crust there warms and stretches, then rips open to form a valley. If the process progresses far enough, lava wells up at the bottom of the valley, hardens, and begins to push the two pieces of crust apart.

The end result is two continents separated by an ocean basin. Examples on Earth would be the Atlantic Ocean, or the much younger Red Sea. Africa's Great Rift Valley is an ocean basin that never made it.

The Valles Marineris is the same thing-- Mars never quite had the size or heat to really get the plate tectonics crankin'.
10. Asteroids in the asteroid belt can be made of several types of rocks. Which is NOT one of these?

Answer: Limestones

Asteroids in the inner half of the asteroid belt are mostly silicate minerals and metals. 4 Vesta is made up of silicate rock. Asteroids in the outer half of the asteroid belt are made up of dark, hydrated carbonaceous material. 1 Ceres, the largest asteroid, is one of these. How do we know this? First, from the spectra of the different asteroids. Second, from the meteorites that land on the Earth-- stony and iron meteorites, and carbonaceous meteorites.
Source: Author pu2-ke-qi-ri

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