Recipe For a Small Planet
Understanding the Chemistry of the Solar
System Begins with the Sun
The Solar Spectrum
Chemistry of the Sun
Chondrites are a Close Match to the
Sun’s Composition
Chondrites are Depleted in Gases, a bit
Richer in Metals, than the Sun
Mega-Impacts may Have Mixed Materials
From Different Planets
Earth’s Mantle is Basically Chondritic in
Composition
We Can Expect Basalt to be Very
Abundant in the Universe
Anorthosite
With Some Very Simple Science, We Can
Understand the Geology of the Moon
Earth’s
Interior is
in Motion
Basalt Forms Earth’s Ocean Floors as
Plates Pull Apart
Basalt Builds Great Shield Volcanoes
Satellite
View of
Mauna Loa
Olympus Mons on Mars is also a Shield
Volcano
Much of Venus Seems to be Covered With
Basalt
So Far, Granite is Unique to the Earth
Granite is the Sign of an Internally-Active
Planet
Deep in the Earth, Under High Pressure,
Eclogite Forms
Earth is
Unique in
Many Ways
Earth’s Unique Surface
Our Pleasant Earth is a Remarkably Hostile
Environment for Rocks
Where It’s Cold Enough, Ice Can Be a Rock
In the Cold
Outer Solar
System,
Worlds are
Made of Ice
as Well as
Rock
Under High Pressure, Ice Assumes
a Number of Exotic Forms
Io
Artist’s Conception of a Scene on Io
Titan
Uranus
(Artist’s
Conception)
The Narrow Rings of Uranus
Comets are Leftovers from the Outer
Solar System