Module 4 - Rocks


Lunar Basalt, obtained on an Apollo 12 mission, under the microscope.

Assignment

1) Read this article and answer the following questions:
Rocks and soil from the Moon http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/curator/lunar/lunar.htm

  1. How many pounds on lunar rocks have been brought back to Earth? 
  2. How were these rocks transported back to Earth? 
  3. What do we think caused the moon to form? 
  4. How many years ago did the moon form?
    Click on “Lunar Sample Compendium”.  Click on “12020”. 
  5. What type of descriptive name is given to this rock sample?
    Pan down to page 5 of 6. On the top of the page it will say “table 1, chemical composition of 12020. What percent (%) of this moon rock is:
  6. Silica (SiO2)?
  7. Ferrous oxide (FeO)?
  8. Magnesia (MgO)?
  9. Lime (CaO)?
  10. Alumina (Al2O3)?

2) Read this article and answer the following questions:
New Mars rock hints at short lived lakes http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn5004
In May 2004 Mars rover Opportunity discovered a dark layer of rock in the rim of the crater Endurance. 

  1. What kind of rock do scientists think make up this brown layer? 
  2. What does the presence of this kind of rock mean in terms of watery periods on the surface of Mars?

3) Moon explorers will get extra credit for reviewing this article and answering the questions below:
Moon Rocks through the Microscope: A Web Gallery of Images http://www.cas.usf.edu/~jryan/moonrocks.html

  1. What are basalt rocks? 
  2. How were the basalt moon rocks formed? 
  3. How old are the basalt moon rocks (Ga = 1.0 billion years)? 
  4. What do the terms Intersertal, Intergranular, Variolitic, and Poikiliitic mean?
    Look in detail at the thin section photographs Lunar Basalts 12002, 12005, and 70017.
  5. Did these rocks cool slowly or fast? 
  6. Why?

4) Mars explorers will get extra credit for reviewing this article and answering the questions below:
Rocks on Earth Tell Story of Life on Mars http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Mars/MarsThePlanet/MarsRocks.html

  1. What is a meteorite? 
  2. What did the scientist find in the suspected meteorite (rock fragment) from Mars?
  3. How do they think that the rock fragment got to Earth from Mars? 
  4. Why is the presence of iron sulfides (FeS) and magnetite (Fe3O4) in association with carbonate modules significant? 
  5. Are the scientific findings conclusive evidence of past life on Mars?
  

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Last updated: May 31, 2005