The Dynamic Earth and Space Geodesy

EATS 1010 3.0 [Fall 2011]

Instructor: Gary Jarvis, Department of Earth and Space
Science & Engineering (ESSE) 117 Petrie Science & Engineering Building jarvis@yorku.ca, 416-736-2100 Ext. 77710

Laboratory Coordinator: Terry Du, 046 Central Square

terrydu@yorku.ca, 77706 Text: The Dynamic Earth and Space Geodesy, SC/EATS 10103.0 (Custom Publication for York University)

ESSE office: 102 Petrie Science & Engineering, 416-736-2100 Ext. 55245 Course Website: moodle11.yorku.ca

The Dynamic Earth and Space Geodesy

EATS 1010 3.0 [Fall 2011]

Course Marking Scheme & Schedule

Sept. 19 Nov. 30 October 25 December 18 22.

5 Laboratory Exercises: 20% Mid-Term Test: Final Exam: 30% 50%

EATS 1010 3.0 Lab. Timetable

(Fall 2011)
Group Day Lab 1 Lab 2 Lab 3 Lab 4 Lab 5 Planet Minerals Plate GPS Seismology Earth Tectonics ____________________________________________________________________________ Time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

M M T T W W R R

11:30 2:30 11:30 2:30 11:30 2:30 11:30 2:30

Sept. 19 Sept. 19 Sept. 20 Sept. 20 Sept. 21 Sept. 21 Sept. 22 Sept. 22

Oct. 3 Oct. 3 Oct. 4 Oct. 4 Oct. 5 Oct. 5 Oct. 6 Oct. 6

Oct. 24 Oct. 24 Oct. 25 Oct. 25 Oct. 26 Oct. 26 Oct. 27 Oct. 27

Nov. 7 Nov. 7 Nov. 8 Nov. 8 Nov. 9 Nov. 9 Nov. 10 Nov. 10

Nov. 21 Nov. 21 Nov. 22 Nov. 22 Nov. 23 Nov. 23 Nov. 24 Nov. 24

9 10

F F

8:30 11:30

Sept. 23 Sept. 23

Oct.7 Oct.7

Oct. 28 Oct. 28

Nov. 11 Nov. 11

Nov. 25 Nov. 25

Spiral Galaxies similar to the Milky Way Galaxy

The Sun

Light ray traveling to the Moon from Earth

(actual time less than 1 second)

Earth 384,400 km

Moon

[ Apollo Astronauts took 3 days to travel to the Moon.]

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Traveling at the Speed of Light: Radio/TV Communication Signals

Time to Moon: < 1 second Time to Mars: > 4 minutes (up to 21 min.)

Time to Jupiter: > 43 minutes Time to Pluto: > 5.5 hours

Time to nearest star: 4.3 years Time to nearest galaxy: 2 million years
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Need a new unit of distance to measure interplanetary space

Astronomical Unit (AU) : The average distance from the Earth to the Sun; 1 AU = 149,597,870 kilometres (~150 million km) 1 LY= 63,240 AU. We can measure distances within the solar system in units of AUs. e.g., The distance from the Sun to Earth is 1 AU The distance from the Sun to Mars is 1.5 AU The distance from the Sun to Venus is 0.72 AU

Planetary Characteristics
Planet Distance (AU) 0.39 0.72 1.00 1.52 5.20 9.54 19.2 30.1 Diameter (DEarth) Mass (MEarth) Density (H2O =1)

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Sun

Relative spacing of Planetary Orbits

Closely space inner planets

Widely spaced outer planets

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Planetary Characteristics
Planet Distance (AU) 0.39 0.72 1.00 1.52 5.20 9.54 19.2 30.1 Diameter (DEarth) 0.38 0.95 1.00 0.53 11.23 9.41 4.06 3.88 109.
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Mass (MEarth)

Density (H2O =1)

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Sun

Relative sizes of the planets and the Sun

The Sun would hold 1.3 million Earths.

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Planetary Characteristics
Planet Distance (AU) 0.39 0.72 1.00 1.52 5.20 9.54 19.2 30.1 Diameter (DEarth) 0.38 0.95 1.00 0.53 11.23 9.41 4.06 3.88 109. Mass (MEarth) 0.06 0.82 1.00 0.11 318. 95.2 14.6 17.3 332,000.
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Density (H2O =1)

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Sun

Planetary Characteristics
Planet Distance (AU) 0.39 0.72 1.00 1.52 5.20 9.54 19.2 30.1 Diameter (DEarth) 0.38 0.95 1.00 0.53 11.23 9.41 4.06 3.88 109. Mass (MEarth) 0.06 0.82 1.00 0.11 318. 95.2 14.6 17.3 332,000. Density (H2O =1) 5.5 5.2 5.5 3.9 1.4 0.7 1.3 1.6 1.4
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Mercury Venus Earth Mars

Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Sun

Categories of Planets
Terrestrial (Earthlike):
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
- Small, dense, closely spaced, inner 4 with few moons (The rocky planets)

Jovian (Jupiter-like):
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
-Large, low density, widely spaced, outer 4, with several moons (The gas giants)
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Terrestrial Planets
Mercury
Closest to the Sun at 0.4 AU Small, rocky, heavily cratered No atmosphere Weak magnetic field One Mercurian year = 88 Earth days One Mercurian day (176 Earth days) takes two Mercurian years Long hot days (3 months at 427 C ) and cold nights (-173 C) No moons
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Fig. 22.10

Terrestrial Planets Venus

-2nd Planet from the Sun at 0.72 AU. - 95 % of Earths diameter -Rocky, mountainous, a few craters - CO2 Atmosphere - No magnetic field - Hot ~ 500 C - Covered in white sulphuric acid clouds -Rains hot sulphuric acid - No moons
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Fig. 22.12

Terrestrial Planets
Earth
3rd Planet from the Sun at 1.0 AU. Small, rocky, very few craters Nitrogen and Oxygen atmosphere, H2O clouds Global Oceans Wind, water and ice erosion Plate tectonics Warm ~ 4 C Significant magnetic field One large moon
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Terrestrial Planets
Earths Moon
Small, rocky Heavily cratered surface (~170 million craters) Large impact basins No atmosphere No magnetic field Only extra-terrestrial surface explored by man Rotation synchronized with orbit about Earth

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Figs. 22.3 and 22.8

Terrestrial Planets
Mars
4th Planet from Sun at 1.5 AU 50% Diameter of Earth Rocky, rust colour [FeO in surface rocks] A few craters Past geological activity Volvanoes, rivers, canyons Thin CO2 atmosphere Polar CO2 ice Caps H2O Clouds and Snow Cold ~ - 55 C No magnetic field Two small moons (captured asteroids)

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Figs. 22.13 and 22.14

Asteroid Belt
Asteroids
Small irregular shaped rock fragments Circular orbits between Mars and Jupiter; from 2.2 AU - 3.3 AU (i.e., 1.1 AU wide) typical diameter is < 50 km ~ 1 million with diameters > 1 km 26 with diameter > 200 km Two largest: Pallas ~560 km and Ceres 940 km ( a dwarf planet - see below) Space debris left over from formation of the Sun and planets. Total mass is less than 0.1% of Earths mass.

Gaspra

Deimos Phobos

Dactyl Ida

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Other Asteroids
Apollo asteroids Trojans

Trojan asteroids
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Jovian Planets
Jupiter
-

5th planet from the Sun, at 5 AU. Largest and most massive planet Comprised mostly of a hydrogen and helium atmosphere, with a small rocky core about the size of Earth What we see are clouds at the top of Jupiters enormous atmosphere. 63 moons and 3 faint dust rings circling about its equator 4 large Galilean moons.
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Galilean Moons of Jupiter

Io Europa Ganymede Callisto

~ size of Earths Moon

Larger than Mercury

Largest satellite in the Solar System

Volcano on Io
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Jovian Planets
Saturn
6th planet from the Sun, at 9.5 AU, and the 2nd Largest Comprised mostly of a hydrogen and helium atmosphere, with a small rocky core about the size of Earth We see the cloud tops of Saturns enormous atmosphere. Encircled by thousands of bright (reflective) rings made up of billions of small chunks of ice, 2 10 cm in diameter. 56 moons. 1 large moon, Titan, has an atmosphere similar to early Earth.
Fig. 22.22

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Jovian Planets
Uranus
-

7th planet from the Sun, at 19 AU Blue methane clouds Tilted over on its side by an early collision 13 equatorial rings of water-ice particles with diameters from 20 cm to 20 m. 27 moons

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Jovian Planets
Neptune
8th and farthest planet from the Sun, at 30 AU. - ~ same size as Uranus - Blue methane cloud tops - 13 moons. Triton has an atmosphere and volcanoes erupting ices(!) of water, methane and ammonia. - 5 faint equatorial rings, comprised of fine dark dust (like the rings of Jupiter) 27

Dwarf Planets
Pluto, former 9th planet

Charon

Hubble Space Telescope photo of Pluto and Charon

Counter-rotating binary system

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Two smaller moons orbit about this pair

Pluto

Front side

Back side

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To Be or Not to Be a Planet
Definition of a Planet
1. Large enough to be rounded by its own self gravitational forces 2. Not a satellite of another object in the Solar System 3. Has cleared its orbit of space debris
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To Be or Not to Be a Planet
Definition of a Dwarf Planet
1. Large enough to be rounded by its own self gravitational forces.
Pluto

2. Not a satellite of another object in the Solar System. 3. Has NOT cleared its orbit of space debris.
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Pluto: Not to Be a Planet

Orbits of Kuiper Belt Objects

Pluto has not cleared its orbital path of space debris.

Fig. 22.28

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