SOLAR SYSTEM HAS ROCKY PLANETS

The terrestrial planets have rocky crusts

The four terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars They all have rocky crusts and dense mantles and cores

Processes and Surface Features

1. Tectonics: the processes of change in a crust due to the motion of hot material underneath. Think earthquakes.
2. Volcanism: occurs when molten rock moves from a planets hot interior onto its surface Molten rock called lava reaches the surface through a volcano. Lava eventually builds up into mountains.

3. Weathering and Erosion: weather or small impacts break down small rocks. The broken material is moved by a process called EROSION. Some methods of erosion: water, wind, heat, gravity

4. Impact Cratering: small objects hit a planets surface so fast it causes an explosion The resulting impact crater is often 10 times larger than the object

Atmospheres
Atmospheres on terrestrial planets are mainly formed from gases that pour out of volcanoes If the gravity is strong enough, it pulls gases in

If the gravity is too weak, the gases are lost

Mercury is the only planet that doesnt have an atmosphere The atmospheres of Venus and Mars are mostly CO2 After Earth formed, the CO2 atmosphere kept the surface warm enough for water to be liquid Earths atmosphere is mostly nitrogen with some oxygen

Craters cover the surface of Mercury

1. Tectonics: high cliffs; iron core; wrinkly crust 2. Volcanism: surface was covered with lava long ago; smooth plains formed similar to lunar maria (moon) 3. Weathering and Erosion: small impacts and temperature changes have broken rock; gravity has moved broken material downhill 4. Impact cratering: the craters show that other processes have not changed for a long time

Venus
Venus is only a little smaller than Earth, hence the nickname Earths sister planet Venus takes about 8 months to turn just once on its axis (2 months of daylight/2 months of darkness Atmosphere is very dense (air pressure is 90X Earths!) The thick CO2 gas makes the surface temperature about 470C!!! Thick white clouds completely hide the surface

Venus
Tectonics: cracks formed as the hot mantle has stretched and twisted the surface Volcanism: most of the surface is covered with lava Weathering and Erosion: too hot to have water and winds to not move much material Impact Cratering: some craters, however the older ones have been erased by other processes (erosion), smaller objects cant reach the surface because it just burns up in the atmosphere

Mars
Mars is half the diameter of Earth The orange reddish color comes from iron and oxygen RUST Mars has 2 moons Phobos and Deimos Atmosphere is mostly CO2

Tectonics: valleys and raised areas formed as the mantle moved Volcanism: most of the north has smooth plains of cooled lava, like lunar maria; also volcanoes are very high (higher than any mountain on Earth) Weathering and Erosion: fast winds break down rocks, gravity also moves the broken material, and landforms also indicate that water was once present Impact Cratering: old round craters cover much of the south

MARS
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