Planetary Geology

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Not a moon of Jupiter
1. Callisto
2. Europa
3. Ganymede
4. Enceladus
5. Io
How astronomers use craters to decipher the history of a planet
1. superposition
2. crater degradation
3. crater saturation
4. all the above
Deimos and Phobos are the two tiny, asteroid-like satellites of
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Pluto
4. Mars
Planets are round because of
1. revolving around the sun
2. rotating on their axes
3. abrasion by meteor impact
4. their gravity
The dark flat areas on the Moon are
1. lava plains
2. great dust accumulations
3. areas melted during meteor impacts
4. parking lots for flying saucers
Large lava-filled impact craters found on the moon are known as:
1. splash marks
2. maria
3. breccia
4. lunar highlands
5. rays
The planet with the densest atmosphere:
1. Mars
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Titan
5. Triton
The remains of an extraterrestrial particle which is found on earth's surface is called a(n)
1. comet
2. meteoroid
3. asteroid
4. meteorite
5. satellite
The clouds on Venus are made of
1. sulfuric acid
2. dust
3. water vapor
4. ice crystals
Which planet has the slowest rotation?
1. Mercury
2. Mars
3. Venus
4. Jupiter
5. Earth
One of the two satellites of Mars is:
1. Io
2. Titan
3. Phobos
4. Miranda
5. Europa
Which planet has the fastest rotation?
1. Mercury
2. Mars
3. Venus
4. Jupiter
5. Earth
Which is the smallest planet?
1. Pluto
2. Mars
3. Mercury
4. Venus
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are collectively called
1. the Jovian planets
2. the gas giants
3. both a and b
4. neither a nor b
Which planet has not yet been visited by a spacecraft?
1. Pluto
2. Mars
3. Mercury
4. Uranus
5. Saturn
Which planet has not yet been visited by manned spacecraft?
1. Mercury
2. Jupiter
3. Mars
4. Venus
5. none of the above have been visited by manned spacecraft
The high temperature on Venus is due to
1. the greenhouse effect
2. its nearness to the Sun
3. its carbon dioxide atmosphere
4. all the above
This body has a giant multi-ringed impact basin
1. Mercury
2. Callisto
3. the Moon
4. all the above
Lacks a magnetic field
1. Mercury
2. Jupiter
3. Venus
4. Saturn
The greatest impacts produce
1. pit craters
2. craters with central peaks
3. craters with terraces
4. multi-ringed impact basins
Most of what we know about the surface of this planet comes from radar mapping.
1. Mercury
2. Jupiter
3. Venus
4. Saturn
5. Mars
What bodies in the solar system orbit between Mars and Jupiter?
1. comets
2. astroblemes
3. meteoroids
4. Kuiper Belt objects
5. asteroids
Which of these lunar features is the oldest?
1. maria basins
2. lunar highlands
3. rayed craters like Copernicus
4. lunar soil
5. all features on the moon are about the same age
The dark-appearing areas on the moon are called:
1. oceans
2. rays
3. lunar highlands
4. none of the above
5. maria
The maria lowlands on the moon are most likely:
1. large lava-filled impact craters
2. dried up ocean basins
3. fault block basins similar to rift valleys on earth
4. stream eroded basins
5. none of the above
Which of the following is NOT true about Jupiter?
1. more massive than all the other planets combined
2. has huge rotating storms
3. has a dense atmosphere
4. has a bright, wide ring system
5. all of the above are true
The only satellite known to have a substantial atmosphere is:
1. Io
2. Titan
3. Phobos
4. Miranda
5. Europa
The areas of the moon called maria by the early astronomers were thought to be:
1. mountainous regions
2. areas of dense vegetation
3. seas
4. high flat plateaus
5. deep craters
The only body in the solar system (Earth excluded) known to have active volcanism:
1. Io
2. Titan
3. Phobos
4. Miranda
5. Europa
The length of daylight on the moon is about:
1. 24 hours
2. one month
3. 48 hours
4. one year
5. two weeks
Large lava-filled impact craters found on the moon are known as:
1. splash marks
2. maria
3. breccia
4. lunar highland
5. rays
Most of the moon's craters were produced by:
1. the impact of debris (meteoroids)
2. volcanic eruptions
3. faulting
4. radial implosions
5. their origin remains unknown
Which of these is NOT a characteristic of the Jovian planets?
1. large size
2. composed mostly of gases and ices
3. located beyond the orbit of Mars
4. have thin atmospheres
5. all of these are characteristics
The glowing head of a comet is known as:
1. coma
2. comoid
3. toma
4. mrkos
5. nucleus
The smallest planet in the solar system is:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
The high surface temperatures of this planet have been attributed to the greenhouse effect:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
This planet has a densely cratered surface similar to that of the moon:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
The small particles which produce a streak of light upon entering the earth's atmosphere are called:
1. comets
2. meteoroids
3. asteroids
4. meteorites
5. satellites
These spectacular bodies have been compared to large, dirty snow balls, since they are made of frozen gases which hold together small fragments of rocky material:
1. comets
2. meteoroids
3. asteroids
4. meteorites
5. satellites
These objects can be placed into one of three categories; iron, stony, and stony-iron:
1. comets
2. meteoroids
3. asteroids
4. meteorites
5. satellites
The planet with the greatest temperature extremes is:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
This terrestrial planet is shrouded in a thick cloud cover making earthbound telescopic observation of its surface impossible:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
The relatively small, rocky bodies generally found orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are known as:
1. comets
2. meteoroids
3. asteroids
4. meteorites
5. satellites
These minor members of the solar system are thought to have formed beyond the orbit of Pluto:
1. comets
2. meteoroids
3. asteroids
4. meteorites
5. satellites
The mountains on the moon:
1. are folded mountains not unlike the Appalachians
2. are fault-block mountains like the Teton Range in Wyoming
3. are a volcanic mountains range
4. are rims of huge impact basins
5. have an unknown origin
The Venusian atmosphere is composed primarily of:
1. water vapor
2. nitrogen
3. oxygen
4. carbon dioxide
5. hydrogen
This planet contains Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
Bright splash marks radiating outward from large young lunar craters are called:
1. rays
2. spokes
3. continuous ejecta
4. radiating dikes
5. spicules
Which of these is not a terrestrial planet?
1. Earth
2. Uranus
3. Mercury
4. Mars
5. Venus
A recent discovery indicates that this planet has one satellite:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
This planet has ice caps which change in size with the changing seasons:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
One of the planets known to have rings:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
This planet shows evidence of water erosion:
1. Venus
2. Mercury
3. Uranus
4. Pluto
5. Mars
This body has a giant multi-ringed impact basin
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Europa
4. Saturn
The youngest craters are marked by:
1. rays
2. central peaks
3. terraces
4. multiple rings
Which planet is nearest the Earth in size and mass?
1. Mercury
2. Mars
3. Venus
4. Pluto
Which planet lacks have rings?
1. Jupiter
2. Uranus
3. Saturn
4. Neptune
5. None - they all have rings
Rings must lie exactly above the ____Plane of a planet.
1. equatorial
2. ecliptic
3. Polar
4. Nodal
Which has not yet been found to have volcanoes?
1. Earth
2. Mars
3. Io
4. Ganymede
5. Venus
When a large meteor strikes a planet, its energy of motion turns into
1. atomic energy
2. sound
3. x-rays
4. heat
This object lacks an atmosphere
1. Titan
2. Venus
3. Mercury
4. Mars
The polar caps of Mars are probably water ice and frozen
1. methane
2. ammonia
3. nitrogen
4. carbon dioxide
The red color of Mars is probably due to
1. sulfur
2. faint sunlight
3. iron oxide
4. the Earth's shadow
The only planet whose axis of rotation is nearly in its own orbital plane is:
1. Venus
2. Neptune
3. Saturn
4. Pluto
5. Uranus
What was the main source of heat for the Earth early in its history?
1. meteor impact
2. an initial molten condition
3. radioactivity
4. spontaneous combustion
5. gravitational compression
The most abundant meteorites are:
1. stones
2. achondrites
3. irons
4. peridotites
5. stony-irons
Which of the following is not a terrestrial planet?
1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Jupiter
4. Mars
5. Earth
The age of the solar system is generally accepted by scientists as:
1. 4.6 billion years
2. 20 billion years
3. 10 billion years
4. 50 billion years
5. 15.5 billion years
The major problem that plagued most early theories of the origin of the solar system involved the:
1. distribution of elements throughout the solar system
2. rotation of the planets around their axes
3. slow rotation of the Sun
4. revolution of the planets around the Sun
5. source of meteorites and asteroids
The surface of the Moon is divided into: light-colored highlands and low-lying, dark-colored plains called:
1. light colored highlands and dark colored maria
2. fold mountains and shields
3. basaltic and granitic crust
4. igneous and sedimentary terranes
5. cratons and polar caps
Which of the following is not characteristic of Mercury?
1. a strong magnetic field
2. heavy cratering of its surface
3. scarps
4. numerous lava flows
5. possible polar ice caps
The atmosphere of Venus is:
1. thick and composed of carbon dioxide
2. similar to Earth's
3. nonexistent
4. thin, like that of Mars
5. none of these
The surface of Mars possesses:
1. huge valleys
2. smooth plains
3. massive volcanoes
4. all of these
5. large craters
It is currently believed that the Tunguska explosion was caused by a(n):
1. meteor
2. volcanic eruption
3. asteroid
4. comet
5. nuclear explosion
Which of the following events did all of the terrestrial planets experience early in their history?
1. accretion
2. meteorite impacting
3. differentiation
4. all of these
5. volcanism
The age of the universe is generally accepted by scientists as:
1. 570 million years
2. 13 to 20 billion years
3. 4.6 billion years
4. greater than 50 billion years
5. 8 to 15 billion years
The most widely accepted theory regarding the origin of the Moon involves:
1. capture from an independent orbit
2. formed in orbit around the Earth
3. breaking off from the Earth during the Earth's accretion
4. formation resulting from a collision between the Earth and a large proto-planet
5. none of these
Images radioed back by Voyagers 1 and 2 revealed that:
1. all of the Jovian planets have rings
2. Neptune and Uranus both have little atmospheric activity
3. Uranus has a large spot like those of Jupiter and Neptune
4. Pluto has an atmosphere similar to that of Mars
5. all of these
Both Jupiter and Saturn have a relatively small rocky core overlain by a zone of:
1. helium
2. hydrogen
3. liquid metallic hydrogen
4. carbon dioxide
5. frozen ammonia

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Last Update 2 January 1997; Last Update 24 February 2011

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