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