Why the Atlantic Ocean Getting Bigger - Research Paper Example

How can the Atlantic Ocean be getting bigger- What is causing it? How fast is this happening, and whenwill it stop (if ever) and how do we know this? There have been recent suggestions that the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean is spreading. The report indicates that the flour is spreading at a rate of five centimeters per annum. When the sea floor expands, it can cause all types of destruction on the various edges of the tectonic plate of the earth. The different havocs caused can cause earthquakes, coastal flooding as well as volcanic eruptions. One of the main reasons why the sea floor of the Atlantic Ocean is getting bigger is the bubbling up of the magma beneath the ocean. The seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean has numerous mountain ranges that have been formed where the tectonic plates have been formed. According to various reports, the Atlantic Ocean is getting is bigger at the rate of five to ten centimeters per year. Since the size of the earth does not increase, the increase experienced by the Atlantic Ocean means that some plates must be shrinking. Since the seafloor is also expanding, the expansion is believed to continue (NASA). 2. Compare and contrast Venus to Earth. Should we expect them to have similar features (like volcanoes, craters, etc.) There are various members of the solar system. Earth and Venus are among the members of the solar system. Earth is the third closest planet to the sun whereas Venus is the second closest to the sun. Therefore, being relatively closer to the sun compared to the Earth, Venus is considered to be a lot hotter. The planet Venus is believed to have average temperatures of over 460 degrees centigrade. On the other hand, the planet Earth has an average temperature of 14 degrees centigrade. Nevertheless, both planets share similar composition, similar size, and more importantly, they have an atmosphere that has a complex weather system. Venus is believed to have a smooth surface like that of the earth although there is a variation of what it is and what it is expected to be. There is sizeable evidence showing the same geographical features that are available on planet earth. For instance, volcanoes, Canyons, lava flows, rift valleys, craters, mountains plains among others are also present in Venus (NASA). Just like planet Earth, Venus has a considerable number of mountains. As a matter of fact, Venus is believed to have mountains that are higher than those of Earth. Maxwell Montes, one of the highest mountains on Venus has an elevation of 11 kilometers. The elevation of Maxwell Montes is believed to be 2 kilometers higher than the highest mountain Mount Everest, which is highest mountain in Planet Earth. Substantial evidence shows that volcanoes and lava flows are also present in Venus. This is shown due to the change in chemical composition present in the planet. Additionally, there are various lava flow features that are present on the surface of Venus. One of the largest Rift Valleys in Earth is the East Africa Rift. In Just like planet Earth, Venus has a variety of Rift valleys. For example, there is rift valley that is Eistla Region, near Sif Mons and Gula Mons. Most Rift valleys are formed as a result of tectonic motion. For instance, the Earth’s East African rift valley was formed by a tectonic motion. Conversely, since the surface of Venus appears to be a solitary plate, the largest rift valleys in Venus are as a consequence of the local tectonic activity. 3. How do satellites measure the depth of the ocean if their radar cannot go through miles of water? How do they detect seamounts – underwater mountains? How accurate is this method and what are some problems with it? The deepness of the ocean is measured by various ways including acoustic echo-sounders and satellite altimeters. Echo sounders measure the depth of an ocean by conveying pulses of sound and examine the exact time that is required to receive back an echo from the bottom. Recording of time is done by a spark that is burning a mark on a roll of paper. Researchers suggest that echo sounders provide the most accurate measurement of the depth of the ocean. It is believed that the technique offers a plus or minus one percent error to the information recorded. On the other hand, Satellite Altimetry works by filling the altimeter data. An altimeter outlines the shape of the ocean or sea surface which offers s a similar shape to that of the sea surface. A satellite altimeter measures the elevation of the satellite that is above the sea surface. The actual depth is received by subtracting the difference between the heights of the surface with the orbit of the satellite (NASA). Sea water is less dense than Seamounts, therefore, the local gravity is increased causing a test line at the surface of the sea to be directed towards the seamount. Satellite method is considered to be a very accurate method of measuring the depth of the ocean. The main challenge facing the accuracy of the method is the existence of seamounts. Also, there is a very close relationship between the ocean floor and the water surface. To be precise, the level of the surface which is corresponding to the ocean’s surface also creates a vast challenge when measuring the depth of the ocean. Also, since this process is somewhat understood, there are various interruptions in the ordinary subsidence that is caused by solid state convection such as mantle plumes among others. Nevertheless, in a situation where the radar cannot see the bottom of the floor, The Satellite method measures what lies beneath the surface of the floor. After collecting the various data set, estimation is done, and the height and the location of the mountain are recorded (NASA). 4. Choose one mission among Fermi, Mars Science Laboratory, or MESSANGER. What is it, was the mission designed to looking for, and what are some things that it has found so far? How long has it been active and how much did it cost? Try to convince me whether a similar mission should or should not be funded in the future. MESSANGER is an acronym is for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging. The mission was financed by NASA to orbit the planet Mercury. The mission that was launched in August 2004 was aimed to study the chemical composition of Mercury, magnetic field as well as the geology. The spacecraft entered the orbit of Mercury on 2011 March and the first photo from the satellite was received on March 29.The MESSANGER mission became completed in the year 2012. Nevertheless, following a mission extension, the mission is expected to end on April 30, 2015. The Spacecraft took NASA ten years eight months and four days to complete the entire mission (NASA). The mission was estimated to cost US $280 million, but the cost was considered to be worthwhile considering the cost of other missions that were unsuccessful while other incurred additional costs as the mission progressed. To recap, the mission proved to be successful in terms of meeting its objectives. Therefore, it is recommendable to fund such a mission in future (NASA). 5. Describe a gravitational slingshot. What are the effects on the spacecraft and the effect on the planet spacecraft flies by? Can this effect shuffle the planets around? A gravitational slingshot is a superficial way to lift up the speed of the gravity of a moving planet. In understanding a slingshot influence spacecraft, it is important to know how by default objects are taken care of by planets. The planets allow flying object to conserve energy. In other words, if a flying object comes flying with some form of kinetic energy it is expected to leave the space with the same level of kinetic energy. Primarily, a spacecraft depends on the gravitational slingshot to speed them up. When a spacecraft passes the stationery of the planet, the spacecraft is expected t leave the stationery planet at the same rate. However, the situation is expected to change if the planet is moving at the incoming rate, and the outgoing speeds are different. Slingshot increases the kinetic energy of the spacecraft by decreasing the Earth’s kinetic energy. In most cases, this phenomenon is used for the probes that are yet to be identified in the outer solar system since fuel cost is significantly reduced. Nevertheless, this effect cannot shuffle the planets around. 6. How can we find out what makes up the interior of Jupiter? What is down there anyway? Over years, astronomers have been trying to study the interior of Jupiter since it is believed to be the smallest seen star. To quench their thirst, astronomers have developed various tools to probe the interiors of the planet. It is alleged that, it is possible to detect the different precession of the rotational axis having a careful observation of the planet. Amongst the gears that are used to identify the various precisions includes Telescope, satellites among others (NASA). Amongst the planets visible object, Jupiter is the one of the brighter object. In fact, it is believed to be the second most brilliant planet besides Venus. From the images seen in the telescope, astronomers are capable of identifying the various features that are present in Jupiter including the major moons, cloud features among other features. Through, imageries seen from telescope Jupiter cloud have various colors due to the various chemical impurities, and the cloud is believed to be at different atmospheric levels. In other word, the atmosphere in Jupiter is very contaminated and, for this reason, the planet cannot support life. 7. The sun is slowly losing mass. How is the sun doing this (name two mechanisms) and how fast is it losing mass? A Recent report says that the sun is slowly losing mass. In understanding how the Sun is losing mass, it is important to understand what the sun is. The sun is a ball of burning hydrogen. During the burning process, the process converts a small percentage of heat into energy that is therefore emitted by the other planets including the Earth (NASA). The sun is losing mass. Therefore, there are various mechanisms on how the sun is losing mass. The sun loses mass by getting rid of cosmic particles or atomic particles that have a mass, as well as through radiation. The sun converts approximately six hundred protons of hydrogen in every second to five hundred and ninety-six million tons of helium. This means the difference of the four tones is lost during the conversion process. Although the rate at which the Sun is losing mass is relatively low, it is still not a good phenomenon to experience, considering how critical energy is to human life. 8. A) Hundreds of years ago, astronomers calculated the orbit of Saturn. The orbit was not exactly what astronomers expected, so the postulated the existence of another planet and found Uranus. Later in the orbit of Mercury was to be slightly different than what was expected. How did astronomers solve that mystery? When do scientists postulate the existence of something new and when do they hypothesize a completely new way of thinking? Mercury is among the five planets that can be seen at night using naked eyes. There are various mysteries that are associated with planet mercury. While planet Earth takes 366 days to complete an orbit, Mercury takes just 88 days. In almost every science discovery, there is a postulation; the discovery of Mercury was associated with the mystery of the size. One way to understand why the size was different is by examining the distance between the planet and the sun (NASA). B) How was dark matter discovered, and what is the dark matter? Are there alternative ideas to what it is? How does dark matter relate to how the sun is slowly losing mass? The dark matter is a substance that cannot be seen, touched, felt, as well as heard even with the most sophisticated equipments. The larger part of the universe is dark matter. The universe is made up of three matters including, Baryonic matter, Cold dark matter as well as Dark energy. 70 percent of the universe is dark matter. What human breath, drink or eat on earth is less than 1 percent of the sun. On the other hand, the sun is a composition of 75 percent hydrogen and 24 percent helium. Essentially, every planet that is larger than the planet Earth is more or less similar to the sun in terms of the composition and mostly helium and hydrogen NASA). Therefore, the materials that are seen by the use of a telescope are just a fraction of what comprises the sun. Fundamentally, there is a close correlation between dark matter and the reason the earth is slowly losing mass. What the sun emits into the atmosphere is emitted, is consumed as dark matter. 9. Describe the main physical features of Olympus Mons and how it likely formed. Give two reasons why the Earth does not have similarly giant volcanoes. Olympus is a massive shield volcano that is on planet Mars. The mountain has a height of 25 kilometers, almost three times as tall as Earth’s Mount Everest. Among Mars volcanoes, it is the youngest as it was formed during the Amazonian Period. The mountain was formed as a result of a volcanic eruption, and it is considered to be the highest discovered mount in the solar system (NASA). There are various reasons why the earth does not have such high mountains. Among the reasons is that the region that is occupied by the Olympus is 10-100 times larger than that of the Earth. In addition, there is no movement in the crust of Mars as opposed to that of Earth. Therefore, the hot spot that is present on Earth remains stationary as the crystal plates move above them. As the movement of plate continues, new volcanoes get formed, and the existing ones happen to wipe out. Therefore, this phenomenon distributes the volume of lava among various volcanoes rather than one large volcano. Work Cited NASA. Journey to Mars. 13 September 2013. Web. 7 April 2015. Read More