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Mercury Planet Research Paper

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The first planet after the Sun, Mercury, has very similar geological features with the Earth's moon. Its surface is covered with varying sizes of craters which was used by scientists to determine the planet's age. It is said that these craters are the "scars" from asteroid and comets during the Late Heavy Bombardment Period. Measuring 1550km, the Caloris Basin is the largest crater in Mercury's surface and 14 other large crater basins were found. Although it has been identified that Mercury's surface is geologically inactive, large deposits of water ice can be found near its poles. These bodies of water ice were found on deep craters around Mercury's poles and are always in the shadows. If one side of the planet is covered with craters, another …show more content…

It is also the brightest in the sky next to the Sun and the moon. This brightness of Venus is caused by the thick clouds of sulfuric acid that reflect sunlight back into space. Runaway greenhouse gases is responsible for the large amounts of carbon dioxide in Venus' atmosphere. Its atmosphere also includes 3.5% of nitrogen and less than 1% of carbon monoxide, argon, sulfur dioxide and water vapor, leaving 96% of its atmosphere with carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect on this planet is also responsible for Venus being the hottest planet in the Solar System. This extremely dense atmosphere is equivalent to the pressure one would experience when diving 3000ft beneath the ocean and Earth-like atmosphere can be experienced 50-60km above the surface of Venus. Significant temperature changes were not recorded in Venus, thus, day and night temperatures do not differ. This is true for seasonal changes as …show more content…

The breaking apart of this supercontinent was due to the movement of the Earth's Tectonic Plates. Tectonic Plates are large masses of the lithosphere or outer layer of the Earth's surface. The layers included in the Lithosphere are the Crust up to the upper layer of the Mantle. The Oceanic Crust is thinner and denser than the Continental Crust and can be found underneath the ocean. It is also more active than the Continental Crust that stretches 200 km below the Earth's surface. This crust drifts and moves either horizontally or vertically causing geological phenomenons such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. The major tectonic plates are North American, Caribbean, South American, Scotia, Antarctic, Eurasian, Arabian, African, Indian, Philippine, Australian, Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, and Nazca. These plates move an estimate of 1 to 10 cm per year causing interaction at plate boundaries. When two plates are colliding or moving toward each other it is in Convergent boundaries. If these two plates are Oceanic Crusts, they are in Subduction zones wherein the denser plate in forced beneath the less dense plate and would eventually melt or destroy. On the other hand, when two plates move away from each other it is in Divergent boundaries. New crust material from molten magma formed below may fill the space between these plates or become ocean basins.

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