Billionaire Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars has brought a lot of recent atten
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Question
Billionaire Elon Musk’s plans to colonize Mars has brought a lot of recent attention to the Red planet. Although not much is known about Martian soils, there are a few things we should be able to surmise from what we know about soils on Earth. Questions 13 to 24 focus on Martian soils.
13. There is no precipitation on Mars and the average temperature is -55o C (-67o F). Any water present is frozen. How would you expect these conditions to affect weathering of Martian parent material to soil?
14. Martian soils often consist of sand-size particles overlain by a layer of “dust” – particles with a diameter between 0.003 and 0.045 mm – transported by wind. Martian dust could be classified as which type of parent material?
15. There were streams on the surface of Mars billions of years ago. The sands deposited by these streams could be classified as which type of parent material?
16. Because the parent material in Q. 15 was deposited by water, you would expect it to be:
17. Based on the diameter of Martian dust particles (0.003 to 0.045 mm), Martian dust contains which types of particles?
18. The tern “reddish”, used to describe the color of Martian soils, is imprecise. What could you use to give a more precise description of soil color?
19. Assuming that Martian soils are made up of sand and Martian dust, which of the following textural classes should not be found in Mars?
20. The mineral fraction of Martian soils derives from some of the same rocks and minerals also found on Earth. What elements do you expect to make up the bulk of Martian soils?
21. There is no organic matter in Martian soils. Which of the following soil properties is not affected by the absence of organic matter?
22. Which of the following properties are affected by the absence of organic matter in Martian soils?
23. Martian soils have a pH between 8 and 9. Is this consistent with the weathering conditions under which they have formed?
24. People in Mars will need to grow crops, which require P. How might the availability of P be affected by the pH of Martian soil?
Explanation / Answer
13.
Water existed at the North Pole on the Mars is in the form ice. The Mars is not favorable for the precipitation, because the average pressure on the Mars blocks the precipitation. These conditions also affect the weathering on the Martian surface. The weathering over Martian surface takes place during the long time. The weathering over the Martian surface is only due to the wind.
14.
Martian surface undergoes weathering by the wind. Here, weathering occurs due to the wind, so the wind carries the dust particles. The parent material for the dust particles is the irregular shape Martian soils.
15.
The recent astronomers revealed that the large amount of water existed on the Martian surface. These evidences clearly indicate that the rivers were existed. The identified water in the rocks on the Mars is very less percentage. The astronomers concluded that based on the research a result, the identified water on the Martian surface is due to the branching channels in the shape of the river beds.
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