ASTR 170B1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Percival Lowell, Runaway Greenhouse Effect, Valles Marineris
28 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
The earth as a planet (read ch 7) Radius = 6400 km (cosmic calc, 3. 1) So the earth is more than just rock. Erosion (wind water ice) would smooth out all mountains in tens of millions of years. Mid-ocean ridge (64,000 km mountain chain under oceans) Continents sit on plates of granite, floating like rafts on denser basalt of ocean basins. Convection transfers heat energy from the hot interior (core) to the cooler upper mantle and crust. Mantle rock is hot, therefore soft can flow like putty. Near side of earth feels stronger force from moon than far side. Makes bulge in oceans on both near, far sides/ Tidal force of earth"s gravity locked moon to keep same force toward us. Tidal friction slows earth"s rotation (and pushes moon farther away) Same effect happens on other satellites in the solar system. Water vapor highly variable 0 - 4 % Weather: driven by transfer of heat, ground to air (convection, rotation)
