Activities in Planetary Geology for the Physical and Earth Sciences
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 239 921 SE 044 107 AUTHOR D'Alli, Richard, Ed.; Greely, Ronald, Ed. TITLE Activities in Planetary Geology for the Physicaland Earth Sciences. INSTITUTION National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO NASA-EP-179 PUB DATE 82 NOTE 184p.; Chart on inside front cover andphotographs may not reproduce well. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Use - Guides (For Teachers) (052) EDRS -PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Astronomy; Cartography; ClassActiv&ties; *Earth Science; *Geology; Learning Activities; *Lunar Research; Meteorology; Postsecondary Education; Resource Materials; *Science Activities;Secondary Education; *Space Exploration; Teaching Guides IDENTIFIERS Mars (Planet); Moon; PP Project; *PlanetaryGeology; Pladets ABSTRACT The activities,, in this guide dealwith concepts in planetary geology, but they can begeneralized to illustrate broad problems in the earth sciences. They aredesigned to supplement or introduce topics usually encountered inearth science courses. The exercises, organized into independentunits which can be presented in any order, areappropriate for secondary and postsecondaryeducation; however, most can be adapted to theelementary level as well. Each activity is printed twice: once in a formsuitable for classroom use with objectives, materials needed, backgroundinformation, procedures, and questions; and again with answersand suggestions for the teacher inserted in theappropriate blanks. The following units and activities are included: (1) lunarphases (understanding phases of the- moon); (2) planetary cratering(impact cratering and comparing cratering processes); (3) Aeolian processes(Martian wind tunnel); (4) planetary atmospheres (Corioliseffect and storm systems); and (5)- geological mapping of other planets(photogeologic mapping of the moon, planets in stereo,landform mapping, and geologic features of :Mars). Appendices provide informationfor ordering National Aercinautics and Space Administration(NASA) motion pictures and publications, sources of space photographs,suggestions for correlating topics of the activities, and aglossary of planetary geology vocabulary. (DC) *********** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are thebest that can be made * from the original document. ** *.***************.************ U.S. DEPARTMENT IDIF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERIC) :VIZ%dutirent has bowl rof-dolocod as ,asssad ham the Daman at odonvaoon mood-Taboo d. : MOIR thansiO6 have Won Made to imp, POOtOdOchoh quality. Paints of view of ootroons stated in this dodo. mane do not nooessafily on:Rsent official ME ;mama.Or paaay, It I INV1a 'ill 11111:1`c 4.111411 I") lilt OA 441 i..ittIllf- )1.111).10 t' ()IA ii'] I )-Il 1 tr. ,A htl /,',' Ill 01 VW 00V I Ot V-, 4 01 0 01 00 rinpi701 tV1 000 10 000 00') 1' 000 ) 0 414 11 0: it- 90 F: 100 (c) , ; 0 50 le) '1 (c) 00100 !7' I 0 0100 0 I It ) A i7 till )-) t A 1)tI A Ii'r WO.] p 01 ((10 p )4 or., ill l 40 I CI ,t ,04 It) ,Lt)oc) Cl" 0 Httl ' 'A'O lc) liii'f' Ill ION ill 4) r),(1,(0)p t,11. P FAL u Li. (4) ) 4.1 1.tii Acti -Kiesin Planetary Geo logy for The Physical. and Earth Sciences NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC 20548 1982 For sate by the Superintendent or Docurneol$. 1LS_ Cloy Pr oting Ornce,ivmhingion, S.G. 20.1n2 PREFACE This book is the outgrowth of a short coursein Planetary Geology, conducted in the Spring of 1976 for highschool science instructors from Fairfax County, Virginia,organized by Peter H. Schulte and Ronald Greeley, then of theUniversity of Santa Clara, California. William Johnson, Fairfax HighSchool Earth- Science Instructor, and Lee Ann Hennig, Fort HuntHigh School Planetarium Director, were participants in the short courseand agreed to take- a primary role in preparing aprevious edition of this book entitled Curriculum Guide inPlanetary Geology for Earth Science Instruction. Using material fromthe short course, Johnson and Hennig tested some of the exercisesin the classroom. From their experience, conversations with otherparticipants, and use at Arizona State University, the exercises weremodified for incorporation within this edition. Greeleyand Schultz edited and guided the various drafts of the originalcurriculum guide; D'Alli enlarged and edited that guide into the presentversion. We recognize the need for continued classroomtesting of the material included in this book.User comments and sugges- tions for improvements are solicited and welcomed. Richard D'Alli & Ronald Greeley, 1982 Erepartment of Geology Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85287 i-Current address: Lunar and Planetary Institute 3303 NASA Road 1 Houston, Texas 77058 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE it INTRODUCTION SPECIAL NOTE. TO THE TEACHER ...... - VI UNIT ONE: THE LUNAR PHASES UNDERSTANDING THE PHASES OF THE MOON ..... .. UNIT TWO: ACTIVITIES IN PLANETARY CRATERING 19 IMPACT CRATERING . ........ - ... ... .... 20 COMPARING CRATERING PROCESSES 40 IMPACT CRATERING 54 UNIT THREE: ACTIVITIES IN AEOLIAN PROCESSES= 63 AEOLIAN PROCESSES: MARTIAN WIND TUNNEL 64 UNIT FOUR: PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES ....... ................ 79 CORIOLIS EFFECT 80 CORIOLIS EFFECT: DEMONSTRATION I 89 93 CORIOLIS EFFECT: DEMONSTRATION II = STORM SYSTEMS 97 UNIT FIVE: THE GEOLOGICAL MAPPING OF OTHER PLANETS = 111 PHOTOGEOLOGIC MAPPING OF THE MOON: THE PROVINCES 112 PHCTOGEOLOGIC MAPPING-OF THE MOON: STRATIGRAPHY 116 THE PLANETS IN STERE0 124 LANDFORM MAPPING! MOON, MERCURY AND-MARS 131 138 GEOLOGIC FEATURES OF-MARS = APPENDIX 166 HOW TO ORDER NASA MOTION PICTURES 167 HOW TO ORDER NASA PUBLICATIONS 168. A NOTE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHS 169 SUGGESTED CORRELATION OF TOPICS- 170 SELECTED GLOSSARY FOR PLANETARY GEOLOGY 172 iii INTRODUCTION Contemporary earth science courses gen- expanded, perhaps central, role that curricu- erally include a modest introduction to the lum planners should consider giving to plane- solar system. The justificationis reasonable tary science. Those arguments, a few of which enough: the challenge of the earth sciences is are outlined below, have inspired NASA to to understand the natural processes of the conduct short courses in lunar and planetary terrestrialenvironment, andthe sun and science for earth science teachers at the second- planets are part of that total environment. But ary and college level. This book is a revised edi- there are more compelling arguments for an tion of the results of one of those short courses. THE PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE Few, if any, natural phenomena can ever travel by man and machines there were, in be understood in a figurative vacuum, isolated fact,onlyterrestrialexamples of planet- from theirrelationship with other natural making materials and processes. Now it has phenomena. The planet Earth, even taken as become possible to take that all-important, one, enormous entity,is no exception. The scientificstep of devising general theories natural forces that have driven Earth's evolu- from a collection of working hypotheses. The tion and shaped its surface are most likely multiple working hypotheses come from the operating elsewhere in the solar system. It is scenes of extraterrestrial environments. the job of the earth scientist to recognize those forces on all planets wad explain why A major goal of scienceis prediction. they are manifested on our world in ways that Once primitive, generalized theories are for- seem familiar, and on other worlds in ways mulated, experiments are designed to test the that may not. theories by their predictions. Some experi- ments that could address the problems of The earth scientist is also concerned with earth scientists simply cannot be performed earth materials, the building blocks of this on Earth, in a laboratory or otherwise, because planet. If there has been one illuminating by- of their monumental proportions. What could product of space exploration, it has been the be more illustrative, elegant, or challenging emergence of a unifying vision of the birth than to consider the other planets as great and growth of planets. Pictures of the planets experiments running under conditions differ- sent back by spacecraft strongly suggest the ing from those on Earth? The result may be fraternqy of the inner planets. Rocks and soil not only to wain insight into planetary scale brought back from the Moon bear remarkable problems, but also to escape the somewhat similarity, and of course, important differ- limited and often myopic earthbound view of ences, to earthmaterials. Even spacecraft nature. pictures of the jovian satellites, planets them- selves by right of size, have astounded scien- Along these same lines, there is further tistswiththeirexotic,butrecognizable reason to incorporate _planetology into the surfacematerials.The American geologist study of earth science. The earth scientist is T. C. Chamberlin (1843 - 1928) once wrote painfully aware that the dynamic processes that when approaching a scientific problem, it active on Earth today have virtually wiped was most important to maintain severalnot clean the very record of their own history. just oneworking hypotheses. Prior to space However, relicts and indirect evidence of our iv own deep past exist in various states of pre- Ben Franklin's day. What has been missing is servation on other planetary surfaces. A another model, another atmosphere to study, common tactic used by scientists to under- where the variables are different, but the stand complex systems is to study simpler, dynamics are as definitive. We just may have analogoussystems.Whilethe