What are some major features on Mercury?
Table of Contents
- 1 What are some major features on Mercury?
- 2 What is found on Mercury’s surface?
- 3 What are Mercury’s layers?
- 4 What is the core and surface composition of Mercury?
- 5 What dominant surface process do Mercury and the Moon have in common?
- 6 What type of surface feature is commonly found both on Mercury and on the Moon?
- 7 What are the atmospheric features of mercury?
- 8 What are the geographical features of mercury?
What are some major features on Mercury?
One of the most notable features on Mercury is Caloris Basin, an impact crater about 960 miles wide that formed early in the planet’s history. Mercury has no rings, no moons, and a relatively weak magnetic field. Mercury is a scarred world covered in craters, ridges, and bright debris from numerous impacts.
What is found on Mercury’s surface?
The surface is rich in sulfur, about 20 times richer than the surfaces of Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Messenger also found low surface abundances of titanium and iron. Mercury seems to have formed in conditions much more reducing—i.e., those in which oxygen was scarce—than other terrestrial planets.
What are the dominant features on the surface of Mercury quizlet?
Craters – Like the Moon, the dominant surface feature on Mercury is craters. Furthermore, all craters on Mercury show the same morphological characteristics as their lunar counterparts.
How are the surfaces of Mercury and the Moon different?
Mercury. Only 40 percent larger in diameter than the Moon, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and its sunlit surface is hot enough to melt lead. Mercury is denser than the Moon, and it seems to have a large iron core, the source of a weak but detectable magnetic field, a feature the Moon lacks. A world revealed.
What are Mercury’s layers?
Mercury appears to have a solid silicate crust and mantle overlying a solid, iron sulfide outer core layer, a deeper liquid core layer, and possibly a solid inner core. These results have implications for how Mercury’s magnetic field is generated and for understanding how the planet evolved thermally.
What is the core and surface composition of Mercury?
Scientists believe that the interior structure of Mercury includes a metallic core, an intermediate rocky layer, and a thin brittle crust. The composition of Mercury is probably high in iron, although surface features indicate that volcanic activity once existed at the surface.
What is the dominant character of the four outer planets quizlet?
What is the dominant character of the four outer planets? They are large and gas rich. What is the current theory for the formation of our Solar System? The Sun and planets condensed from a cloud of gas and dust.
What is the dominant geologic process in our solar system?
Impact cratering is the dominant geologic process in the solar system. It has affected all terrestrial planetary surfaces, producing battered surfaces on Mercury, the Moon, and in the southern highlands of Mars.
What dominant surface process do Mercury and the Moon have in common?
Impact craters dominate the surfaces of Mercury and the Earth’s Moon. Both bodies lack liquid water on their surfaces that would erode impact craters over time. They also lack an atmosphere which, on planets like the Earth and Venus, could disintegrate meteoroids before they impact the surface.
What type of surface feature is commonly found both on Mercury and on the Moon?
Craters are the most common surface features on many solid planets and moons—Mercury and our Moon are covered with craters. This portion of the Moon is covered by numerous circular holes. These are impact craters, each of which was formed when an asteroid or comet collided with the Moon’s surface.
Does Mercury have a hard surface?
Mercury has a rocky surface and an iron core. The iron core in Mercury is very large compared to other rocky planets like Earth and Mars. This makes Mercury’s mass very high compared to its size. Mercury is a barren planet covered with craters from impacts of asteroids and other objects.
What is the structure of Mercury?
Structure. Mercury is a terrestrial planet having three main layers: a core, mantle and crust. Mercury’s crust has no tectonic plates and its iron core is enormous, making up 85\% of the planets radius while Earth’s inner and outer core, account for about 55\%.
What are the atmospheric features of mercury?
Atmosphere of Mercury. Mercury has a very tenuous and highly variable atmosphere (surface-bound exosphere) containing hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium, potassium and water vapor, with a combined pressure level of about 10−14 bar (1 nPa).
What are the geographical features of mercury?
The surface of Mercury has numerous interesting features, including a variety of craters, ridges, and terrains ranging from heavily cratered to nearly crater free. These features, and their location across the known planet surface, helps us to understand the evolution of the planet.
What is the interior of mercury?
Mercury’s Interior and Surface. Scientists believe that the interior structure of Mercury includes a metallic core, an intermediate rocky layer, and a thin brittle crust. The composition of Mercury is probably high in iron, although surface features indicate that volcanic activity once existed at the surface.
What has Mercury in it?
batteries