People have been fascinated with the possibility that life exists elsewhere in t
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People have been fascinated with the possibility that life exists elsewhere in the Universe since they first looked into the night sky and recognized that there are other planets in our Solar System orbiting our Sun. In the last couple of years, new, highly sensitive methods have become available to conclusively identity the presence of other planets orbiting suns outside of our Solar System. This has led to a renewed push to identify conditions elsewhere in the Universe that could possibly support even the simplest life forms. Astrobiology is a fairly new field of study, in which scientists look for clues to the existence of life forms elsewhere in the Universe by exploring whether the essential components of life, and suitable conditions of temperature and pressure, can be identified on other cosmological bodies. Astrobiologists believe that it is essential to have liquid water if there is any chance of finding life on another planet. Why was liquid water thought to be such a rarity in the Universe, and why are scientists beginning to think differently about that in recent years? Create an analogy that describes the layers of the earth Find a geological event in the news within the last two months and relate it to one or more of the concepts discussed in chapters 1 -4. What causes plate tectonics? Describe how plate tectonics both creates and destroys Earth's crust. Explain in detail the various reasons that the Olympus Mom volcano on Mars could grow so large, but it would be very unlikely that such a large mountain could form on Earth.Explanation / Answer
1. Water is essential to sustain life, it is also necessary that this water exists in its liquid form. This means that for a planet to be habitable, it must have a favorable atmospheric pressure and exist at a favorable distance from its star such that the temperature isn't too hot (causing water to exist as vapor) or too cold (causing water to exist as ice) and water can exist in the liquid state. In recent years scientists have discovered Earth-like planets falling within the "habitable zone", using the Kepler Telescope.
2. The 3 layers of the Earth are Crust, Mantle and Core. An analogy can be that of an egg where the crust is the egg shell, the mantle is represented by the egg white and the core is represented by the egg yolk.
3. Insufficient Information: chapters 1-4 unknown. (for reference, the flooding in Oklahoma can be used)
4. Earth's crust is broken into fragments known as plates. These plates are constantly in motion relative to each other. This movement occurs because the plates float over an underlying layer of molten rock (known as asthenosphere). They may move towards each other due to which one plate may subduct under the other forming a subduction zone (destroying crust) or may move away from each other with new crust being formed at the boundary (creating crust).
5. The main reason why volcanoes on Mars, including Olympus Mons, can grow so large as compared ot the Earth is that unlike Earth, Mars' crust is stationary. This allows a rising magma volume to erupt at the same spot over and over again causing a lrger volcano. Also, the atmospheric pressure and gravity on Mars are much lesser than that on Earth and the eruption rates are higher resulting in free flowing lava flows.
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