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Terrestrial Planets. Sources of internal heat.

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Presentation on theme: "Terrestrial Planets. Sources of internal heat."— Presentation transcript:

1 Terrestrial Planets

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3 Sources of internal heat

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5 Planetary Interiors ► If everything else were equal  The internal heat is proportional to the volume of the planet, which goes as the cube of the radius  The rate of heat loss depends upon the area of the surface, which goes as the square of the radius

6 Net result ► The ratio of stored heat versus cooling goes something like R, the radius ► Thus, all else being equal, we expect the interior of a larger planet to be warmer than the interior of a smaller planet

7 Differentiated Interiors

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10 Volcanism Mars Olympus Mons

11 Volcanism Venus

12 Volcanism Earth

13 Plate Tectonics

14 Venus, tectonics yes, but not plate tectonics

15 Mars: activity mostly in the past?

16 Valles Marineris

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18 Moon: Geologically dead?

19 Mercury ► Similar to the Moon, but with small lava plains rather than the giant maria

20 Mercury: Cliffs created by crustal movement ► Did Mercury shrink as it cooled?


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