AST101H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Valles Marineris, Olympus Mons, Venus Express
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AST101H1 Full Course Notes
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Maybe it suffered a large collissosion like giant impact. Volcanism: eruption of molten rock on ice. Tectonics: disruption of planet"s surface by internal stresses. Erosion: changes made by wind, water, or ice. Magellan mission mapped entire surface using radar. Fewer impact craters than moon, mercury or mars. Entire surface seems to have been repaved 750 millions of years ago. Venus express mission seen spots of increasing temperature may be active lava flows. Fractured and contorted surface indicates there were once tectonic stresses. Does not appear to have tectonic plates now. Deepest and longest canyon in the solar system. Layer of gas that surrounds a world. Mercury and moon have virtually no atmosphere. Impacts and craters: meteors crashing vaporizes some of the rock, putting gas in atmosphere. Created thin atmospheres on mercury and moon. Volcanoes release gases from the interior of planet into the atmosphere. Virtually all the gas that now forms the atmosphere of venus, earth and mars.
