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Chapter 8: Planetary Atmospheres

Learning Objectives

By reading this chapter, attending lecture, and reviewing lecture content, you will be able to:

  • Define primary atmosphere vs. secondary atmosphere
  • List and explain the factors that control which atmospheric gases a planet can retain
  • Identify the most abundant gas in each planet’s atmosphere, as well as Pluto’s and Titan’s
  • Describe the evolution of Mercury’s, Venus’, Earth’s, and Mars’ atmosphere
  • Explain why Mars cannot have liquid water on its surface today and list examples of morphological features on Mars that prove liquid water existed on its surface in the past
  • Explain why the coloring of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s banding and Uranus’ and Saturn’s overall atmospheric are different
  • List the factors that affect Earth’s climate; categorize and justify each factor as natural or human-induced
  • Describe what Milankovitch cycles are
  • Explain the greenhouse effect
  • Define albedo and explain its role in climate change today

 

Read the excerpt from An Introduction to the Solar System, 3rd Edition which can be found as a PDF on Brightspace. Once logged into Brightspace, navigate to Content > Textbook & Readings and then look for the Other Readings submodule. The excerpt PDF is titled “An Intro to the Solar System: 5.1-5.6 Planetary Atmospheres.”


Text References

The excerpt in this section is from:

  • Moore, Elaine A. “Chapter 5 Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets.” An Introduction to the Solar System, edited by David A. Rothery, Neil McBride, and Iain Gilmour, 3rd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 163-200.