UM Home |  Search   Advanced Search

Main  |  Events  |  News  |  Courses  |  Labs  |  Resources  |  Telescopes  |  Photography  |  History

In General

• How far is the Earth from the Sun?
• How large is the Earth's radius?
• How old are the oldest rocks on Earth dated to be?
• What information does the Earth's average density give us?

Interior

• How do we find out the structure and density of the Earth's core and mantle?
• If there were no Earthquakes, would it make a difference to our knowledge of the Earth's interior?
• What does the fact that a planet's core is made of heavier materials than its crust tell us?
• Why is the hotter, inner core of the Earth solid, while the outer core is molten?
• How thick is the Earth's lithosphere/crust?
• What are continental drift, volcanoes, and earthquakes due to?
• Does the Earth's surface have large impact craters?

Surface

• What are tides in the Earth's oceans due to?
• Does the Earth's crust have tides, or only the oceans?
• How often are tides observed at a seashore location?
• Are all tides at coastal locations on the Earth equally high?
• Do tides on Earth have any effect on its motion?

Atmosphere

• What is the Earth's atmosphere mostly made of?
• Which types of waves can penetrate the Earth's atmosphere?
• What effect does the Earth's atmosphere have on the Earth's temperature?
• What is the sunlight energy absorbed by the Earth mostly reemitted as?
• What is convection?
• What traps the charged particles from the solar wind far from Earth's surface?
• What protects the Earth's surface from radiation/charged particles?
• What is an aurora (Northern Lights) due to?
• What are the Van Allen belts?