PLANETARY

GEOLOGY
(Comparative
Planetology)
J.T. II Olivar, MAEd
Faculty of Arts and Letters
University of Santo Tomas
 The planets: An overview
 The solar system includes:
 Sun
 Nine planets and their satellites
 Asteroids
 Comets
 Meteoroids
 The planets: An overview
 A planet's orbit lies in an orbital plane
 Similar to a flat sheet of paper
 The orbital planes of the planets are
inclined
 Orbital planes of seven planets lie
within 3 degrees of the Sun's equator
Orbits of the planets
 The planets: An overview
 Two groups of planets occur in the solar
system:
 Terrestrial (Earthlike) planets
– Small, dense, rocky planets of
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
 Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets
– Large, low density, gaseous planets of
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
 Pluto is not included in either group
 The planets: An overview
 Planets are composed of:
 Gases – mainly hydrogen and helium
 Rocks – silicate minerals and
metallic iron
 Ices – ammonia, methane, carbon
dioxide, and water
 Origin and evolution of the
planets
 Nebular hypothesis
 Planets formed about 5 billion years ago
 Solar system condensed from a gaseous
nebula
 As the planets formed, the material that
compose them separated in a process called
chemical differentiation
 Origin and evolution of the
planets
 Due to their surface gravitations, Venus
and Earth retained atmospheric gases
 Due to frigid temperatures, the Jovian
planets contain a high percentage of ices
 Earth’s moon
 General characteristics
 Diameter of 2150 miles is unusually
large compared to its parent planet
 Density – about three times that of
water
 Gravity – one-sixth of Earth’s
 Earth’s moon
 Lunar surface
 Maria – darker lowlands covered by
basaltic lava flows
 Highlands – brighter more densely
cratered regions
 Craters are produced by meteoroid
impacts
Major topographic features
on the lunar surface
Formation of lunar maria
 Earth’s moon
 Lunar History
 Most widely accepted hypothesis
suggests that a giant asteroid collided
with Earth to produce the moon
 One method used to work out lunar
history is to observe crater density
– Older areas have a higher density
– Younger areas are still smooth
 Earth’s moon
 Lunar History
 Moon evolved in three phases
– Original crust (highlands) around 4.5
billion years old (same age as Earth)
– Formation of maria basins between 3.2
and 3.8 billion years ago
– Formation of rayed craters (ejected
material from craters is still visible)
 The planets: a brief tour
 Mercury: the innermost planet
 Second smallest
 No atmosphere
 Cratered highlands
 Vast, smooth terrains that resemble maria
 Very dense
 Revolves quickly and rotates slowly
 The planets: a brief tour
 Venus: the veiled planet
 Second to the moon in brilliance
 Similar to Earth in size, density, mass,
and location in the solar system
 Shrouded in thick clouds of carbon
dioxide
 Surface mapped by radar is mainly
subdued plains covered by volcanic flows
 Mons Olympus – a large,
inactive shield volcano on Mars
 The planets: a brief tour
 Mars: the red planet
 Atmosphere of carbon dioxide is only 1
percent as dense as Earth’s
 Surface of numerous large volcanoes and
canyons
 Tectonically dead
 “Stream drainage” pattern found in some
areas
 The planets: a brief tour
 Jupiter: lord of the heavens
 Largest planet
 Rapid rotation – less than 10 hours
 Banded appearance due to winds
 Great Red Spot is a cyclonic storm
 Surface is thought to be a vast ocean of
liquid hydrogen
 At least 16 moons
 The planets: a brief tour
 Saturn: the elegant planet
 Similar to Jupiter in atmosphere,
composition, and internal structure
 Most prominent feature are an extensive
system of rings
 Multiple moons – Titan is second largest
in the solar system
 Dynamic atmosphere with cyclonic
storms
The ring system of Saturn
 The planets: a brief tour
 Uranus
 Uranus and Neptune are considered
“twin” planets
 Rotates “on its side”
 System of rings
 Large moons with quite varied terrains
 The planets: a brief tour
 Neptune
 Dynamic atmosphere – one of the
windiest places in the solar system
 Eight satellites
 Triton, the largest of Neptune’s moons,
exhibits retrograde motion, lowest surface
temperatures in the solar system, and
volcanic-like activity
 The planets: a brief tour
 Pluto
 Too dim to be visible with the unaided
eye
 Discovered in 1930
 Highly elongated orbit causes it to
occasionally travel inside the orbit of
Neptune
 Minor members of the solar
system
 Asteroids: microplanets
 Most lie between Mars and Jupiter
 Small bodies – largest (Ceres) is about
620 miles in diameter
 Some have very eccentric orbits
 Many of the recent impacts on the Earth
and Moon were asteroids
 Origin is uncertain
The asteroid belt
 Minor members of the solar
system
 Comets: dirty snowballs
 Composition of frozen gases with some
rocky and metallic materials
 Frozen gases vaporize to produce a
glowing head when the comet is near the
Sun
 Origin is not well known
 Most famous short-period comet is
Halley’s comet
 Minor members of the solar
system
 Meteoroids
 Called meteors when they enter Earth’s
atmosphere
 Referred to meteorites when they are
found on Earth
 Classified by composition – irons, stony,
stony-irons, and carbonaceous chondrites
 Give an idea as to the age of the solar
system
 Reference
 Tarbuck and Lutgens. 2001. Earth
Science (9th edition). New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.