Tag Archives: geology

Enceladus

Enceladus, also known as Saturn II (and my favorite moon in the solar system), is one of the innermost and also the sixth largest moon of Saturn. This moon has an orbital period of 33 hours and reflects almost 100% of the sunlight that strikes, due to it’s icey surface. It was discovered in August […] Continue reading

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Olympus Mons

Mars is the home of the largest volcano in the Solar System: Olympus Mons. It stands 22km above the surface of Mars, and is it so wide it takes up an incredible 300,000 square kilometers of land. In comparison, Mt. Everest is only 8.8km tall, and Olympus Mons is approximately the size of Italy. As seen in […] Continue reading

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Tennessee Tectonics

Although Tennessee is in the middle of North America, we are still affected by tectonic activity. There are earthquakes in this region from time to time, thanks to the New Madrid Fault. This Tectonophysics article helps us understand why there are earthquakes in Tennessee. North America began to rift, or break apart, in the Late […] Continue reading

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It’s All in the Rocks

As many people know, rocks are broken up into three main categories: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. However, the formation processes that govern why one would find a certain type in a certain place is very important to exploration of activity of a terrestrial world. Let’s start with igneous rocks. These are rocks that cool directly […] Continue reading

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Mars Suitable for Life

NASA scientists have just finished analyzing a sample of rock Curiosity drilled last month, and the results are certainly promising for the theory that Mars once was home to life. In the sample, they found elements like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, all of which are essential for life as we know it.  This sample […] Continue reading

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