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Quiz about Astrogeology II Icy Planets and Moons

Astrogeology II-- Icy Planets and Moons Quiz

Is the geology of a moon made totally out of ice very different from the geology of the Earth? Yes? No? Take this quiz and find out! The next installment in the "Astrogeology" series.

A multiple-choice quiz by pu2-ke-qi-ri. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
pu2-ke-qi-ri

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
209,378

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
1424

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. There is an obvious difference between the planets of the inner solar system (here, inside the asteroid belt) and outer solar system (Jupiter's orbit and beyond.) The planets of the inner solar system are small and rocky, while the planets of the outer solar system are huge balls of gas. Less often thought about is the distribution of icy bodies in the solar system. So, I ask, what region of the solar system will this quiz be concentrating on? Where would you be most likely to find a planet- or moon-size chunk of ice? Hint

Only the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud

The inner solar system (inside the asteroid belt)

The outer solar system (Jupiter's orbit and beyond)

All of these equally

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Question 2 of 10

2. The next question concerns the nature of this "ice." Which of these compounds can form "ice"? Hint

Water

All of these

Carbon dioxide

Methane

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Question 3 of 10

3. Often, one will read such statements as, "The moon seems to be made of a combination of ice and rocky material." What data is used to come up with this? Hint

Density

Spectra

Albedo (surface reflectivity)

Orbital Period

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Question 4 of 10

4. A number of icy moons show evidence of recent (within the past three billion years or so) geologic activity. Examples would be Jupiter's Ganymede and Callisto, Saturn's Enceladus, Uranus' Miranda, and Neptune's Triton. Which of these factors would tend to increase a moon's likelihood of having some geologic activity? Hint

Neither of these

Orbit brings moon close to the parent planet

Both of these

Large size

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Question 5 of 10

5. Many of the craters on the icy moons are very flat and shallow with a bowed-up center, in sharp contrast to rocky planets and moons. Some craters even seem to have been "erased" almost entirely. What accounts for the difference? Hint

Ice is less stiff than rock

Tidal forces are stronger on icy moons

Icy moons have less gravity

Icy moons were only impacted by shallow, flat objects

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Question 6 of 10

6. The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa shows sheets of ice separated by thin, dark ridges. These sorts of structures do have an analogue on Earth. What is it? Hint

Fjords

Frozen rivers

Glaciers

Pack ice

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Question 7 of 10

7. Measurements from anomalies in Jupiter's magnetic field near Europa suggest that Europa has a what? Hint

Ocean under the frozen surface

Iron core

Mountain range

Rift valley

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Question 8 of 10

8. Neptune's moon Triton is odd. Some part of its surface is covered by this knobby, wrinkled landscape. It is even blue. Nobody quite knows what geological process produced it. So I won't ask you that. I'll just ask: What is it called? What fruit is it named after? Hint

Cantaloupe Terrain

Tamarind Terrain

Lemon Landscape

Pomegranate Plains

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Question 9 of 10

9. Pluto and Charon are almost like a double world-- they orbit each over at close range, and Charon is almost half Pluto's size. So, you would expect their ices to have the same composition. Right? Wrong. Uh-oh. We need a theory. What is it? Hint

Pluto is a dog, obviously

Pluto captured Charon

Less-massive Charon lost its lighter ices to sublimation

Charon has methane-metabolizing bacteria

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Question 10 of 10

10. Saturn's moon Iapetus also presents something of a geological problem. Why exactly is it so strange? Hint

It orbits in retrograde

It is within the Roche limit

It has no craters

Half is white, half is black

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: The outer solar system (Jupiter's orbit and beyond)

Moving out from the sun, large bodies of ice first appear as satellites of the gas giants. This is not to say that there is not ice in the inner solar system-- most of the rocky planets have polar ice caps. And, of course, comets, the proverbial "dirty snowballs" are found in the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.

2. The next question concerns the nature of this "ice." Which of these compounds can form "ice"?

Answer: All of these

I'm not quite sure exactly what is the definition of "ice" used by planetary geologists, but it seems to include the solid compounds formed by water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, diatomic nitrogen, carbon monoxide... Perhaps it is something along the lines of: "Any covalently-bonded compound with a very small number of atoms which is in a solid state in the outer reaches of the solar system." On the other hand, if I look up "ice" in my chemistry dictionary, it just says, "See 'water.'" Chemists have it so easy.

3. Often, one will read such statements as, "The moon seems to be made of a combination of ice and rocky material." What data is used to come up with this?

Answer: Density

The volume of a planet or moon is easy to calculate if you can measure the diameter. Most of the objects mentioned in this quiz are close enough to perfect spheres that the usual volume-of-a-sphere formula works quite well. I am not quite sure how one measures the mass.

The density of rock is about 5, ice something less than one. So, if a body had a density of about 3, you could guess that it is made of some combination of rock and ice.

Answer: Both of these

Energy, usually heat, drives geologic activity. Large bodies tend to preserve their heat longer. Moons closer to a planet experience large tidal forces, which can heat up the moon. The best example of this is Io, one of Jupiter's moons, the most volcanically active body in the entire solar system! By the way, the subject of this quiz is making me think of food. Io looks like a cheese pizza, and Enceladus sounds like "Enchiladas." Oh dear.

Answer: Ice is less stiff than rock

It seems the ice was unable to support the high relief of the crater walls and the low relief of the crater floors. The high crater walls collapsed or subsided, and ice gradually filled in center of the crater. The almost-erased craters are called "palimpsests."

6. The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa shows sheets of ice separated by thin, dark ridges. These sorts of structures do have an analogue on Earth. What is it?

Answer: Pack ice

The cracks seem to have been caused by Jupiter's tidal forces-- the difference in the strength of Jupiter's gravity between the near and far side of the moon. If the stuff on the surface of Europa is really pack ice, that implies the existence of an ocean. Does Europa have an ocean? Read the next question!

7. Measurements from anomalies in Jupiter's magnetic field near Europa suggest that Europa has a what?

Answer: Ocean under the frozen surface

Magnetic field lines cutting across a conductor generate electric currents in the conductor, which produces its own magnetic field, which interacts with the original magnetic field. This seems to be the phenomenon on Europa. What is the most likely conductor? A liquid iron core like the Earth's is out; Europa doesn't have the heat for molten iron. But, ions in solution in water could work quite nicely.

The heat could come from the aforementioned tidal forces. And it explains the pack-ice structures nicely.

Answer: Cantaloupe Terrain

One theory is that frost is evaporating from the sunward side of the moon and condensing on the other, giving it a blue color. I'm not quite sure how that would work. But the cantaloupe terrain really is odd. There are few craters, so evidently it is quite young, but other than that...?

Answer: Less-massive Charon lost its lighter ices to sublimation

Pluto's surface is mostly nitrogen ice, with a dash of methane and carbon monoxide. Charon has water instead of methane. The theory is that when the ice sublimates, Charon loses more of the lighter methane because of its weaker gravity. Pluto doesn't, and actually catches some of Charon's methane.

10. Saturn's moon Iapetus also presents something of a geological problem. Why exactly is it so strange?

Answer: Half is white, half is black

Iapetus-- the solar system's chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream ball. Yes, I'm hungry. How did you know? One side of Iapetus is bright and icy. The other is dark and covered with organic material. What happened? Perhaps it was dust spiraling in from another moon, Phoebe, hitting one side of Iapetus.

The only problem is that the composition of the dust on Iapetus is different from the dust on Phoebe. Research project, anyone?

Source: Author pu2-ke-qi-ri

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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