1. The Principles of Planetary Geology By: Katie McCormick and Kyle Lennox

2. Formation of the Solar System: Formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a cold, diffuse cloud of dust and gas Cloud consisted of about 92% hydrogen and 7.8% helium; all other elements composed only 0.2% A portion of the cloud gravitated toward its center to form the Sun The remaining matter in the original cloud formed a disk-shaped rotating nebula that eventually united into separate spheres to produce the planets

3. Geology of Mercury core is 65% iron core is 65% iron Cratered surface similar to our Moon from meteorites Cratered surface similar to our Moon from meteorites Has flat planes which are lava flows that formed early in history, when the planet’s interior was hot enough to produce magma Has flat planes which are lava flows that formed early in history, when the planet’s interior was hot enough to produce magma Igneous material cooled quickly and ceased when planet was young Igneous material cooled quickly and ceased when planet was young

4. Geology of Venus  Composed of siliceous rocks  Believed to be a series of volcanic eruptions that created volcanic mountains and covering much of the surface with basalt flows  Rising mantel plumes generated magma that repaved the planet with a rapid series of volcanic eruptions  60% of Venus’s surface consists of a flat plain  Tectonics are dominated by mantle plumes

5. Geology of the Moon Craters are abundant Surface mostly contains igneous rocks Geologically inactive for 3.1 billion years

6. Geology of Mars Contains Olympus Mons, largest volcano in solar system Contains Olympus Mons, largest volcano in solar system Surface is dominated by tectonics similar to Venus Surface is dominated by tectonics similar to Venus

7. Geology of Jupiter No rocky crust No rocky crust Surface contains hydrogen and atomic helium Surface contains hydrogen and atomic helium Has 60 moons that are known Has 60 moons that are known

8. Geology of Saturn So low in density that planet would float on water So low in density that planet would float on water Six major rings composed of dust rock and ice Six major rings composed of dust rock and ice

9. Geology of Uranus and Neptune Thick atmosphere composed of hydrogen and helium Thick atmosphere composed of hydrogen and helium Cores mixtures of rock and metal Cores mixtures of rock and metal

10. Geology of Pluto Mixture of rock and ice Temperature is -220 degrees Celsius

11. Works Cited Page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic http://images.google.com/images http://images.google.com/images http://images.google.com/images Thompson, Graham R., and Jonathan Turk. "Planets and Their Moons." Earth Science and the Environment. New York: Brookscole, 2005. 549-571. Thompson, Graham R., and Jonathan Turk. "Planets and Their Moons." Earth Science and the Environment. New York: Brookscole, 2005. 549-571.