Geoscience in Cinema - Homework #8 (3/18/24)
In Wikipedia, look up "Chicxulub crater" and answer this question: The Chicxulub impact is thought to be responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. What is the evidence that the Chicxulub crater was due to an asteroid impact?
- It contains an abundance of shocked quartz. - It contains an abundance of iridium. - It has the shape of an impact crater included a peak ring.
In Wikipedia, look up "Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event" and answer this question: Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event?
- It was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species (including the dinosaurs) on Earth approximately 66 million years ago. - It is marked by a thin layer of sediment called the K-Pg boundary, which can be found throughout the world in marine and terrestrial rocks. - It was thought to have been caused by the impact of a massive comet or asteroid 10 to 15 km in diameter which devastated the global environment.
In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Distribution within the Solar System", and answer this question: Where are asteroids located?
- The asteroid belt. - Co-orbital with Jupiter. - Near Earth's orbit.
In Wikipedia, look up "Rubble pile" and answer this question: Most comets and small asteroids are thought to be rubble piles. Which of the following is a characteristic of a rubble pile?
- They consist of numerous pieces of rock that have coalesced under the influence of gravity. - They have low density because there are large cavities between the various chunks that make them up. - When they pass close to a much more massive object, tidal forces change their shape.
In Wikipedia, look up "Comet" and answer this question: Which of the following is a characteristic of comets?
-They are relatively small icy bodies. - They release gas when the warm as they approach the Sun (outgassing). - They have highly elliptical orbits around the Sun.
In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid", read the intro and then scroll down to "Size distribution" and answer this question: What is the size range of asteroids?
1 m - 1,000 km
In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid Belt" and answer this question: The total mass of the asteroid belt is approximately what percent of the mass of the Moon?
3% (1/33rd the mass of the Moon).
In Wikipedia, look up "Regolith" and answer this question: What is regolith?
A blanket of unconsolidated, loose deposits covering solid rock.
In Wikipedia, look up "Shatter cone" and answer this question: What is a shatter cone?
A conical shaped fracture of rock indicative of the passage of a shock wave due to an impact.
In Wikipedia, look up "Impact crater" and answer this question: Which of the following is not a characteristic of impact craters?
All the above are characteristics of impact craters: - They are approximately circular depression in the surface of a planet, moon, or other solid body. - They typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. - They range from small, simple, bowl-shaped depressions to large, complex, multi-ringed impact basins.
In Wikipedia, look up "Impact crater", read the intro and then scroll down to "Crater formation", and answer this question: Why are craters nearly always round?
Because they are caused be explosions.
In Wikipedia, look up "Kentland crater" and answer this question: What is unique about the Kentland impact crater?
It is in Indiana.
In Wikipedia, look up "Halley's Comet" and answer this question: What is special about Halley's comet?
It is the only comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye that can appear twice in a human lifetime.
In Wikipedia, look up "Comet", read the intro and then scroll down to "Tails", and answer this question: Which of the following is not a type of comet tail?
One made of house-sized chunks of ice and rock when comets break up as they get close to the Sun.
In Wikipedia, look up "Meteor shower", read the intro and then scroll down to "Origin of meteoroid streams", and answer this question: What is the cause of meteor showers?
Streams of debris from a comet.
. In Wikipedia, look up "Comet", read the intro and then scroll down to "Tails", and answer this question: Which tail points away from the Sun?
The gas tail (ion or type I tail)
In Wikipedia, look up "Near-Earth object" and answer this question: Which of the following is not a correct statement about near-Earth objects?
There are less than 1000 known near-Earth objects of any size.
In Wikipedia, look up "Clearwater Lakes", read the intro and then scroll down to "Impact Craters" (make sure to read this entire section!) and answer this question: What which of the following is not a true statement about the two Clearwater Lakes East and West?
They are the same age.
In Wikipedia, look up "Double Asteroid Redirection Test" and answer this question: What was the objective of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test?
To deliberately crash a space probe into the asteroid moon Dimorphos to assess the future potential of a spacecraft impact to deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
In Wikipedia, look up "Asteroid impact avoidance" and answer this question: What is the main strategy to avoid being hit by a large near-Earth object on a collision course with Earth?
To divert it so that it does not hit us.
