Download Minerals: how do they form in planets? - Mixon 12-13

By: Josh Gates and Michael Parris
The way minerals form
The Rocky Inner Planets
That Gas Giant Outer Planets
The four inner planets are
The four outer planets are
composed of rocks and minerals.
composed of gases. Minerals also
Minerals in these planets form by
form in these planets by pressure
elements that are deep inside the
and elements.
Type equation
here. Different elements
ground and the great pressure there.
form here because of the different
Erosion, weathering, and mining
elements and pressure changes.
are the ways that minerals come to
the surface.
The Rocky
Inner Planets
Mercury
Mercury is the first planet of the solar system. It is one
of the four small rocky inner planets with an iron core.
It is composed of Iron and silicates—metal and rock—
that were separated by weight in the original nebula
that the planets formed in.
As the planet formed, the outermost silicate crust was
eroded by fierce heat and radiation, then blown away
from the Sun.
As the planet was forming, a giant impact blasted
away most of the outer silicate crust (much like what
happened to Earth to form the Moon).
Venus
Venus is the second planet of the solar
system. It is one of the four small rocky inner
planets with an iron core. Venus is made up of
a central iron core and a rocky mantle, similar
to the composition of Earth. Venus'
atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon
dioxide(96%) and nitrogen(3%).
Earth
Earth is the third planet of the solar system. It is one of the
four small rocky inner planets with an iron core. The
composition of the atmosphere of Earth is 21 percent molecular
oxygen, 78 percent molecular nitrogen, and 1 percent argon.
Trace amounts of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases
are also present. The mass of the Earth is approximately
5.98×1024 kg. It is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen
(30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%),
nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%); with the
remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements.
Due to mass segregation, the core region is believed to be
primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller amounts of
nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% trace elements.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet of the solar system. It is one of the four small rocky
inner planets with an iron core. The dark areas of Mars are characterised by the
mafic rock-forming minerals olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar. These
minerals are the primary constituents of basalt, a dark volcanic rock that also
makes up the Earth's oceanic crust and the lunar maria.
The mineral olivine occurs all over the planet, but some of the largest
concentrations are in Nili Fossae, an area containing Noachian-aged rocks.
Another large olivine-rich outcrop is in Ganges Chasma, an eastern side chasm of
Valles Marineris (pictured). [16] Olivine weathers rapidly into clay minerals in the
presence of liquid water. Therefore, areas with large outcroppings of olivine -
bearing rock indicate that liquid water has not been abundant since the rocks
formed. [2]
Pyroxene minerals are also widespread across the surface. Both low-calcium
(ortho-) and high-calcium (clino-) pyroxenes are present, with the high-calcium
varieties associated with younger volcanic shields and the low-calcium forms
(enstatite) more common in the old highland terrain.
The Gas Giant Outer planets
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet of the solar system. It is one of
the four Gas giant Outer planets. The interior contains
denser materials such that the distribution is roughly 71%
hydrogen, 24% helium and 5% other elements by mass.
The atmosphere contains trace amounts of methane,
water vapor, ammonia, and silicon-based compounds.
There are also traces of carbon, ethane, hydrogen sulfide,
neon, oxygen, phosphine, and sulfur. The outermost layer
of the atmosphere contains crystals of frozen ammonia.
Through infrared and ultraviolet measurements, trace
amounts of benzene and other hydrocarbons have also
been found.
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet of the solar system. It is one of
the four Gas giant Outer planets. Saturn's atmospheric
constituents are, in order by mass, hydrogen (88 per cent)
and helium (11 per cent); and the remainder comprises
traces of methane, ammonia, ammonia crystals, and such
other gases as ethane, ethane (ethylene), and phosphine.
Voyager images showed whirls and eddies of clouds
occurring deep in a haze that is much thicker than that of
Jupiter because of Saturn's lower temperature. The
temperatures of Saturn's cloud tops are close to -176° C (285° F), about 27 ° C (49° F) lower than those of such
locations on Jupiter.
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet of the solar system. It is one of the four Gas
giant Outer planets. The composition of the Uranian atmosphere is
different from the rest of the planet, consisting as it does mainly of
molecular hydrogen and helium. [12] The helium molar fraction, i.e. the
number of helium atoms per molecule of gas, is 0.15 ± 0.03 in the upper
troposphere, which corresponds to a mass fraction 0.26 ± 0.05. This value
is very close to the protosolar helium mass fraction of 0.275 ± 0.01,
indicating that helium has not settled in the center of the planet as it has
in the gas giants. The third most abundant constituent of the Uranian
atmosphere is methane (CH 4). Methane possesses prominent absorption
bands in the visible and near-infrared (IR) making Uranus aquamarine or
cyan in color. Methane molecules account for 2.3% of the atmosphere by
molar fraction below the methane cloud deck at the pressure level of
1.3 bar (130 kPa); this represents about 20 to 30 times the carbon
abundance found in the Sun.
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth planet of the solar system. It is one of the four Gas
giant Outer planets. Neptune's atmosphere mainly consists of molecular
hydrogen (H2) 80%, helium (He) 19% and methane (CH4) 1.5%. It also
contains small amounts of hydrogen deuteride (HD) and ethane (C2H6).
The average temperature of Neptune at cloud top is -220oC. It has an
extremely hot core at about 5150oC, hotter than the surface of the sun.
It is most likely that Neptune has a small solid core of a rocky material
about the mass of the Earth surrounded by a layer of liquid which is
probably Water with molecules of methane and ammonia. The
temperature of this water is many times the 100oC that water boils at on
Earth, but the extremely high pressure or the Neptunian atmosphere
keeps the particles from escaping the water.
THE END