PHYS4652 Planetary Science

Lecture 5: Planetary Surfaces

LEE Man Hoi

• Except for the giant planets, all bodies in the Solar
System have detectable solid surfaces composed of
rock and/or ice.
• Very low albedos (e.g. maria on Moon) to highly
reflective (e.g. Enceladus) surfaces.

Iapetus

Moon Enceladus
• Cratering by impacts is a major
surface process affecting bodies
with a solid surface in the Solar
System.
• Craters are dominant landform on
Earth
geologically inactive bodies
without substantial atmosphere.
• Most rapid geological process
known.

Moon

Asteroid Mimas
 • Many planets and satellites show signs of past
volcanism.
• A few (e.g. Earth and Io) are still active.
• Cryovolcanism: eruption of ices (e.g. Enceladus).
• Only Earth shows active plate tectonics.

Olympus Mons, Mars Io Enceladus

• Solid Earth has different
layers - core, mantle and
crust - with distinct
properties and mineral and
rock compositions.
• Inner core: solid, iron and
nickel.
• Outer core: fluid, metallic.
• Rocky crust and mantle.
• Lithosphere: outer solid and
rigid layer of crust and
uppermost layer of upper
mantle.
• Asthenosphere: underlying,
mechanically weaker layer
of the mantle capable of
flow.
• Continental crust ~ 25-90
km thick.
• Oceanic crust ~ 6-11 km
thick and denser than
continental crust.
 1. Mineralogy and Petrology
• Petrology: the study of rocks, their composition,
structure and origin.
• Minerals
– Naturally occurring solid chemical compounds that
can be separated mechanically from other
minerals that make up a rock.
– Characterized by chemical composition and
architecture of atoms (crystalline structure).

Granite
• Different spatial arrangement of atoms lead to very
different minerals, even if chemical composition is the
same (e.g. graphite vs. diamond).
Common minerals:
• Silicates (containing Si and O)
– Feldspars, (K,Na)AlSi3O8 and CaAl2Si2O8, make
up about 60% of Earth’s surface rocks; typical
density ~2.7 g cm-3.
– Notation (K,Na) indicates elements K and Na can
be substituted for each other.
– Quartz, SiO2, also common on or near surface;
density ~2.7 g cm-3.
– Pyroxenes, (Ca,Mg,Fe)2Si2O6, make up ~ 10% of
Earth’s crust; density ~ 2.8-3.7 g cm-3 due to
larger fraction of heavy elements.
– Olivine, (Fe,Mg)2SiO4, heavy and like pyroxene
tends to sink in magmas; important constituent of
rocks at depth.
• Oxides
– Magnetite Fe3O4, hematite Fe2O3, and limonite
HFeO2.
– Spinel MgAl2O4.
• Pyrite FeS2 and Troilite FeS.

• Ices in outer Solar System: Water (H2O), carbon

dioxide (CO2), ammonia (NH3) and methane(CH4).
• Carbonaceous minerals.
• CHON particles in comets: dust grains dominated by
combinations of H, C, N and O.
 Rocks
• Assemblages of different minerals.
• Classified on the basis of their
formation history.

Primitive Rocks
• Formed directly from material that
condensed out of the primitive solar CI Carbonacous Chondrite

nebula.
• Has not undergone transformations
due to high temperatures and
pressures.
• Surfaces of many asteroids,
chondritic meteorites, CHON
particles. Halley (Giotto)
Igneous Rocks
• Most common on Earth and other bodies that have
undergone melting.
• Form from molten rock (magma) either underground
(intrusive or plutonic rocks) or above ground
(extrusive or volcanic rocks).
• Magma deep underground cools slowly and large
crystals form; plutonic rocks coarse-grained.
• Volcanic rocks fine-grained or even glassy.

Granite Basalt
• Classification based
on silica (SiO2)
content.
• Basalt ~40-50% silica
by weight and mafic.
• Granite ~70% silica
and felsic.
• Basalt probably most common rocks
on planetary bodies (Earth’s ocean
crust, lunar maria, etc.)
• Earth’s continental crust granite like
but granite less common on other
planetary bodies.
• Type of volcanic eruptions (effusive
vs. explosive) determined by viscosity
of magma (typically higher viscosity
for higher silica content) and gas
content.
Metamorphic Rocks
• Altered by high temperature and pressure or
introduction of other chemically active ingredients.
• E.g., marble (from limestone CaCO3 or other
carbonate rock), quartzite (from quartz).
• Regional metamorphic rocks transformed many km below
surface.
• Contact metamorphic rocks transformed near an igneous
intrusion, largely by heat.
• Rocks altered by impact induced shocks.
Sedimentary Rocks
• On planets with atmosphere, eroded rocks may be
transported by winds, rain and water flows and
deposited as sediment at some other location.
• Conglomerates, sandstones, mudstone and shale
from coarse-grained to fine-grained.
• Chemical sediments
altered by interaction
with other chemical
constituents (e.g.
limestone and dolomite
CaMg(CO3)2 from
chemical reaction with
CO2 dissolved in water).
 2. Crystallization of Magma and
Melting of Rock
• States that a magma goes through as it cools and
crystallizes (or a rock goes through as it melts) can
be shown on a phase diagram.
 Phases of the Magma
• Consider a magma crystallizing under equilibrium
conditions.
• Gibbs free energy of the system is
G=H-TS
• Entropy S measures the change in a system’s state of
order when it changes from one phase or structure to
another. For a thermodynamically reversible process,
dS = dQ/T.
• Enthalpy H = U + P V.
• Using the first law of thermodynamics (dQ = dU +
PdV), dH = dQ + VdP.
• Enthalpy is the heat exchanged at constant pressure.
Basic rule:
Phase transformation of a one-component system
• For a system consisting of a
single component, this figure
shows G and H as a function
of temperature at constant
pressure for the liquid, l, and
solid, s, phase (and the
metastable extensions of the
stable phases).
• Gs and Gl cross at Tc.
• At T > Tc, the system is in
liquid phase.
• At T < Tc, the system is in
solid phase.
• At the critical temperature Tc,
a phase transformation takes
place upon further heating or
cooling.
• The phase transition brings
about a change in enthalpy,
which is the latent heat of
transformation:
ΔH = T ΔS
Phase transition of a two-component system

Liquidus:

Solidus:
• Example of a binary melt (T1 > T2 > … > T5):
• At T > T2, melt is stable phase for all compositions,
and magma is completely molten.
• At T < T4, solid is stable phase for all compositions.
• At T2 > T3 > T4, there is a tangent line touching G of
solid at composition c1 and G of melt at c2.
– For c < c1, solid is stable phase.
– For c > c2, melt is stable phase.
– For c in between, the system can lower its free
energy by splitting up into a solid of composition c1
and a liquid of composition c2.
• In phase diagram of T vs. fB with
liquidus and solidus
– Consider a melt of
composition c2 at point x.
– As the melt cools, solid of
composition c1 crystallizes out
at T3.
– At lower T, compositions of
liquid and solid follow the
liquidus and solidus curves at
T.
– Note that the solid and melt
have different compositions.
– At Tx, entire melt solidifies with
composition c2.
• In reality, phase diagram can
be very complicated.
– Solid and/or melt may become
insoluble in each other at
certain T; solid phases may
exist in different forms; the
melting point may be lowered
for a particular melt (eutectic
behavior); intermediate products
may be formed.
• Example of MgO-SiO2
system: Melt may exist as a
single liquid or a number of
different solid and/or liquid
phases.
• As a magma crystallizes or a
rock melts, rock and magma
compositions change
continuously.
• Magma usually does not cool
under equilibrium conditions.
• E.g. heavy crystals may sink
down and differentiate.
• Bowen’s reaction series of
fractional crystallization and
magmatic differentiation:
– Starting with high-temperature
ultramafic magma, first crystals
to condense out are olivine,
which sink, and we are left with
melt of basaltic composition.
 – Further cooling would condense out pyroxene and leave
melt of andesite composition, etc.
– Ends with rhyolitic or granitic material.
• Similarly, when a rock is melted, the felsic minerals
are the first to melt and mafic minerals are the last to
melt.
 3. Tectonics
• Tectonic activity: Crustal deformation caused by
motions of the surface.

Earth
• With lithosphere broken into plates and convection in
asthenosphere: plate tectonics.
• Earth is the only terrestrial planet with active plate
tectonics.
• Plate recycling:
– Mid-ocean ridges/
Rift zones
– Subduction zones
• Bulges due to mantle
plumes
– Hot-spot volcanism
Mercury
• Ridges and scarps
– Several billion years old
– Consequence of contraction of planet by ~0.1%
due to cooling and solidification.
 4. Volcanism
• Volcanism: Processes associated with transfer of
molten material (magma), volatiles and suspended
crystallized material, from interior of a planetary body
to its surface.

Kilauea Mt. St. Helens

 Melting Processes and Partial Melting
• Increase in temperature.
• Decompression Melting
– High-pressure minerals at
greater depth requires
higher temperature to melt.
– Solid mantle material rising
sufficiently fast to avoid
significant heat loss begins
to melt when it reaches a
depth where pressure is
sufficiently low.
– Main process for generation of basaltic melt in
Earth’s mantle.
– Mid-ocean ridges, rift zones, and mantle plumes.
• Hydration-induced Melting
– Adding volatiles such
as water- or gas-rich
fluids to mantle
induces reactions that
alter constituent
minerals.
– Reduced melting point.
– Hydration of mantle
peridotite at depth
within subduction
zone.
– No lithospheric recycling: no hydration-induced
melting and associated volcanic arcs.
• Partial Melting
– Different minerals or ices melt at different
temperatures.
– Incomplete melting of parent material.
– A melt with chemical composition different from
that of parent.
• For terrestrial planets
– Most commonly erupted material is broadly
basaltic in composition.
– Mantle peridotite (25-30% partial melting) ®
basaltic magma + solid unmelted residue
• For icy satellites
– Mixture of water and more volatile compounds
(ammonia or methane) melts at lower temperature
than pure water ice (~100 K lower for ammonia).
Styles of Volcanism on Earth
Effusive volcanism
• Lava emanating from vent or fissure
and then spreading out.
• https://youtu.be/tSxY1hTsxM4

Explosive volcanism
• Pyroclastic materials produced by
fragmentation of magma due to gas
expansion.
• https://youtu.be/zlfDGe4hlAs
 • Which style depends on viscosity of magma and
amount of gas contained.
• Higher SiO2 content ® greater viscosity and lower
melting point.

• Gases come out of solution and form bubbles as

magma ascends and pressure becomes lower.
• If lava is viscous, the gases may create enough
pressure near a vent that explosive eruptions result.

Low viscosity lava

flow, Kilauea Rhyolitic lava dome of Chaitén
 Factors Affecting Extraterrestrial
Volcanic Eruptions
• Gravity
• Atmospheric density
• Surface and atmospheric temperatures
• Cryovolcanism
– Partial melting of ice mixture can result in release
of volatiles and gases, and resulting eruption can
be either effusive or explosive.
– Temperature difference ΔT between surface and
eruption temperatures could be only about 40 K
on icy satellites.
 The Moon
• Maria: Basaltic lava flows
dated at 3.8-3.2 Gyr mostly.
• Lavas welled up into impact
basins long after the
impacts, probably because
the crust was thinner and
more fractured.
• Rilles: channels or
collapsed lava tubes.
• Deficient in volatiles and
large-scale pyroclastic
activity not expected to be a
significant part of Moon’s
volcanic history.
Hadley Rille
 Mercury
• Large areas of smooth plains
probably lava plains similar to
lunar maria.
• Some features possibly due to
pyroclastic eruptions. Caloris Basin

Maat Mons and Sapas Mons (~5 km
high; vertical scale exaggerated)
Western Eistla Regio
Venus
• 92 bar surface atmospheric
pressure: limits both explosive
pyroclastic activity and
formation of convecting
eruption columns.
• Magellan: numerous volcanoes
• Some are shield volcanoes
many km’s high.
 • Lava flows and lava fields.
• Circular, pancake-like domes
consistent with eruption of
more viscous lavas (possibly
rhyolitic in composition).
• On-going volcanic activities?

Lava flows

Eistla Regio Circular flattened domes in Alpha Regio region

 Mars
Olympus Mons
• 24 km high shield volcano
• Base diameter ~ 600 km
• Caldera ~ 60 km in diameter and
> 2 km deep.
• Some volcanoes may be of
pyroclastic origin.
• Flood lava has basaltic
composition (confirmed by
composition of rock examined by
Sojourner).
• Age of last flood eruption
uncertain: could be only a few
hundred Myrs old. Appolinaris Patera

Sojourner measuring “Yogi”

Discovery image of Io’s volcanic eruptions
Io
• Io is comparable in size and
density to our Moon and was
expected to be geologically
dead.
• But Voyager 1 found that it
has almost no craters and
shows volcanic eruptions.
• Io is the most volcanically
active body in the Solar
System.
• Average surface heat flow ~
30 times that of Earth!
Images takes a few months apart
showing fresh deposit from a volcanic
eruption (Galileo)

Volcanic plumes on Io (Galileo)

• Io has no atmosphere:
convecting eruption column
cannot develop.
• Erupted material reaches
heights of 70-300 km and
falls back on ballistic
trajectories.
• Shield-like volcanoes, some with
calderas.
• Io loses heat mainly by advection;
no evidence for plate boundaries.
• Color of Io due to large amount of
sulfur in the eruption plumes.
• Mg-rich lava from Fe-Mg-rich upper Tupan
mantle: komatiite-like with high
eruption temperatures.

Tvashtar
330 km high plume from Tvashtar over 8 minutes (New Horizons)
 Europa
• Smoothest body in
the Solar System,
with no features more
than a few hundred
meters high.
• Few large craters:
geologically active.
• Global network of
stripes and cracks.
• Spectrum tells us that surface is water ice.
• But the satellite is mostly rocky material based on its
density.
• Various evidence indicates a liquid water layer ~ 100-
200 km thick under the ice shell.
• But we still don’t yet know if the ice shell is thin (~ 1
km) or thick (~ 10 km).
 Smooth area formed by
fluid erupting onto the
surface

Ridges from eruption along

a crack or fissure

Dark bands consistent

with shuffling and
rotating neighboring
plates of ice
 Enceladus
• Cassini discovered water
plumes in the south polar
region of Saturn’s moon
Enceladus.
• Probably due to venting from
subsurface reservoirs of liquid
water.
Infrared image showing heat radiating from
fractures (called “Tiger Stripes”) which are
the source of the plumes