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Amazing Facts of Planet Earth

and the Universe

ii

Amazing Facts of Planet Earth and the Universe. (Karen version)w>*h>vDRurXur.b.C;[D.cd.zsX.’D;rluydmt*h>I

Drum Publication GroupP.O Box 66Kanchanaburi 71000Thailanddrum@drumpublications.org

May 2006

ISBN - 974-94338-2-3

Lilly and Paw Saw Htee's

iii

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What is the hottest place on Earth?

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What makes thunder?

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Can rocks float?

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Can rocks grow?

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How much space dust falls to Earth each year?

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How far does regular dust blow in the wind?

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What is the most rain to fall in just one minute?

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Is Earth round?

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How long is a Martian year?

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How long is the average Martian day?

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What is the largest volcano?

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What was the strongest earthquake in recent times?

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Has the moon always been so close?

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Do earthquakes sing?

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What is the wettest place on Earth?

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Which of Earth’s oceans is the largest?

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What plant can live for thousands of years?

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What is the highest mountain?

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Is it possible to drill a hole to the center of the earth?

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Which of the following sources stores the greatest volume of fresh water worldwide: lakes, streams or ground water?

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What is the largest canyon?

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How much of Earth’s surface consists of volcanic rock?

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How are colors produced in fireworks?

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What is the world’s largest island?

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How much would seas rise if the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted?

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Why is Earth mostly crater-free compared to the pockmarked moon?

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Can an earthquake cause a tsunami?

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What is the fastest surface wind ever recorded?

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Do things inside Earth flow?

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Were Earth and the moon separated at birth?

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Does Earth have the worst weather in the solar system?

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Have there always been continents?

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Does all of Earth spin at the same rate?

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How long is a day on Venus?

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Which planets have moons?

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What causes a rainbow?

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vi

Can people tell when an earthquake will happen?

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What is the difference between stars and planets?

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Will the sun ever go out?

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Where do most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur on Earth?

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How can you tell how old a mountain is?

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What is the world’s deepest lake?

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What is the world’s largest desert?

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How many people would it take to stretch around the world?

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Why do you see the lightning before you hear the thunder?

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Is air mostly oxygen?

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How big was the largest diamond?

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Why is space black and the sky blue?

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What percentage of the world’s water is in the oceans?

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Will Earth always be here?

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11111

1. What is the hottest place on Earth?Count one wrong if you guessed in a paddy field in April. The hottesttemperature ever measured was 58°C in the shade in Africa in 1992.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was -89 Celsius, (-129 Fahrenheit) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983?

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2. What makes thunder?If you thought, “Lightning!” then good for you. But I had a more detailedanswer in mind. The air around a lightning bolt is superheated to aboutfive times the temperature of the sun. This sudden heating causes theair to expand faster than the speed of sound, which compresses the airand forms a shock wave; we hear it as thunder.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that on average, lightning strikes occur worldwide about 100 times every second?

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3. Can rocks float?In a volcanic eruption, the violent separation of gas from lava producesa “frothy” rock called pumice, loaded with gas bubbles. Some of it canfloat, geologists say. I’ve never seen this happen, and I’m thankful forthat.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that as of the year 2000, scientists estimated that volcanoes posed a tangible risk to at least 500 million people?

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4. Can rocks grow?Yes, but observing the process is less interesting than watching paintdry. Rocks called iron-manganese crusts grow on mountains under thesea. The crusts precipitate material slowly from seawater, growing about1 millimeter every million years. Your fingernails grow about the sameamount every two weeks.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the oldest rocks on the ocean floor are less than 300 million years but the oldest continental rocks are 4.5 billion years old?

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5. How much space dust falls to Earth each year?Estimates vary, but scientists say at least 1 billion grams, or roughly1,000 tons of material enters the atmosphere every year and makes itsway to Earth’s surface. One group of scientists claims microbes raindown from space, too, and that extraterrestrial organisms are respon-sible for flu epidemics. There’s been no proof of this, and I’m notholding my breath.

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♦ Did you know that the Earth’s surface area covers 510,100,000 square kilometers or196,950,711 square miles?

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6. How far does regular dust blow in the wind?A 1999 study showed that African dust finds its way to Florida andcan help push parts of the state over the prescribed air quality limit forparticulate matter set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.The dust is kicked up by high winds in North Africa and carried as highas 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), where it’s caught up in the trade windsand carried across the sea. Dust from China makes its way to NorthAmerica, too.

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♦ Did you know that tornadoes can have windspeeds up to 500 kmper hour (300 mph)?

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7. What is the most rain to fall in just one minute?In 1970, nearly 4 cm (about 1.5 inches) of rain fell in 60 seconds onthe island of Guadeloupe in the West Indies. It must have been likestanding under a waterfall.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the highest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela and its’ water drops 979 meters or 3,212 feet?

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8. Is Earth round?Because the planet rotates and is more flexible than you might imagine,it bulges at the midsection, creating a sort of pumpkin shape. The bulgewas lessening for centuries but now, suddenly, it is growing, a recentstudy showed. Accelerated melting of Earth’s glaciers is taking theblame for the gain in equatorial girth.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that it is about 6,378 kilometers from the surface of Earth to the center?

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the gravity on Mars is 38 percent of that found on Earth at sea level so a 100-pound person on Earth would weigh 38 pounds on Mars?

9. How long is a Martian year?It’s a year long, if you’re from Mars. To an earthling, it’s nearly twiceas long. The Red Planet takes 687 Earth days to go around the sun —compared with 365 days for Earth. Taking into account Mars’ differentrotational time, calendars on Mars would be about 670 days long withsome leap days needed to keep things square. If you find one, pleasemail it to me. I’m curious how they worked out the months, given theyhave two moons.

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10. How long is the average Martian day?A Martian can sleep (or work) an extra half-hour every day comparedto you. Mars days are 24 hours and 37 minutes long, compared with23 hours, 56 minutes on Earth. A day on any planet in our solar systemis determined by how long it takes the world to spin once on its axis,making the sun appear to rise in the morning and sending it down in theevening.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that from Mars, Earth would beseen to go through distinct phases like the moonis seen from Earth?

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11. What is the largest volcano?The Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii holds the title here on Earth. It risesmore than 50,000 feet (9.5 miles or 15.2 kilometers) above its base,which sits under the surface of the sea. But that’s all volcanic chumpchange. Olympus Mons on Mars rises 16 miles (26 kilometers) intothe Martian sky. Its base would almost cover the entire Shan state.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that about 540 volcanoes on land are known to have erupted in historic time? No one knows how many undersea volcanoes have erupted through history.

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12. What was the strongest earthquake in recent times?A 1960 Chilean earthquake, which occurred off the coast, had amagnitude of 9.6 and broke a fault more than 1,000 miles (1,600kilometers) long. An earthquake like that under a major city wouldchallenge the best construction techniques.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that the world’s deadliest recorded earthquake oc-curred in 1557 in central China, killing an estimated 830,000 people?

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1313131313

13. Has the moon always been so close?It used to be much closer! A billion years ago, the moon was in atighter orbit, taking just 20 days to go around us and make a month. Aday on Earth back then was only 18 hours long. The moon is stillmoving away — about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Meanwhile,Earth’s rotation is slowing down, lengthening our days. In the distantfuture, a day will be 960 hours long!

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the Moon is about one-quarter the size of Earth?

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1414141414

14. Do earthquakes sing?Not really, but they do make an incredible sound. The Earth rings likea bell after a large earthquake – the lowest ring tone is E flat in the 20th

octave below middle C.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that around 1400 earthquakes rock the planet every day, or roughly one earthquake every minute?

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1515151515

15. What is the wettest place on Earth?Lloro, Colombia, averages 523.6 inches of rainfall a year, or morethan 13 meters. That’s about 2 or 3 times more rain than the wettestareas of Burma or Thailand.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that Arica, in Chile is the driest place on Earth and gets just 0.76 millimeters of rain per year. At that rate, it would take a century to fill a coffee cup?

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1616161616

16. Which of Earth’s oceans is the largest?The Pacific Ocean covers 64 million square miles (165 million squarekilometers). It is more than two times the size of the Atlantic. It has anaverage depth of 2.4 miles (3.9 kilometers).

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that by size and volume the Caspian Sea, located between southeast Europe and west Asia is the largest lake in the world?

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1717171717

17. What plant can live for thousands of years?The creosote bush, which grows in the Mojave, Sonoran, andChihuahuan deserts, has been shown by radiocarbon dating to havelived since the birth of Christ. Some of these plants may endure 10,000years, scientists say. If only they could talk.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that about one-third of the Earth’s land surface is desert?

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1818181818

18. What is the highest mountain?Climbers who brave Mount Everest in the Nepal-Tibet section of theHimalayas reach 29,035 feet (nearly 9 kilometers) above sea level. Itsheight was revised upward by 7 feet based on measurements made in1999 using the satellite-based Global Positioning System.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that the greatest ocean known depth is 36,198 feet or 11 kilometers at the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean well south of Japan near the Mariana Islands?

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1919191919

19. Is it possible to drill a hole to the center of the earth?The deepest hole ever drilled has a depth of 12 km (8 miles), so far,2003. Progress is slow because the drill tip quickly gets blunt andlifting 12 km of drill out to replace it takes ages. This is only 0.2% ofthe radius of the Earth (6361 km, 3953 miles) – so a ‘Journey to theCenter of the Earth is not feasible.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the Earth’s crust’s average thickness is 35 km (22 miles) under continents and 6 km (4 miles) under oceans? As a comparison, it is roughly like a postage stamp stuck on a football.

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2020202020

20. Which of the following sources stores the greatest volumeof fresh water worldwide: lakes, streams or ground water?Groundwater comprises 30 times greater volume than all freshwaterlakes, and more than 3,000 times what’s in the world’s streams andrivers at any given time. Groundwater is housed in natural undergroundaquifers, in which the water typically runs around and through the stoneand other material.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the Nile River in Africa is 6,695 kilometers long making it the longest river in the world?

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2121212121

21. What is the largest canyon?The Grand Canyon in America is the world’s largest canyon system.Its main branch is 277 miles (446 kilometers) long. But let’s compare.Valles Marineris on Mars extends for about 3,000 miles (4,800kilometers). (If it were added to an Asia map, it would stretch fromBurma to Japan. In places this vast scar on the Martian surface is 5miles (8 kilometers) deep.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that Antarctica is the highest, driest, and coldest continent on Earth?

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2222222222

22. How much of Earth’s surface consists of volcanic rock?Scientists’ estimate that more than three-quarters of Earth’s surface isof volcanic origin — that is, rocks either erupted by volcanoes or moltenrock that cooled below ground and has subsequently been exposed atthe surface. Most of Earth’s volcanic rocks are found on the sea floor.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the three countries with the greatest number of historically active volcanoes are Indonesia, Japan and the United States?

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2323232323

23. How are colors produced in fireworks?Mineral elements taken from Earth provide the colors. Strontium yieldsdeep reds, copper produces blue, sodium yields yellow and iron filingsand charcoal pieces produce gold sparks. Bright flashes and loud bangscome from aluminum powder.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know talc is the softest of minerals? It is commonly used to make talcum powder.

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2424242424

24. What is the world’s largest island?Greenland covers 840,000 square miles (2,176,000 square kilometers).Continents are typically defined as land masses made of low-densityrock that essentially floats on the molten material below. Greenland fitsthis description, but it’s only about one-third the size of Australia. Somescientists call Greenland an island, others say it’s a continent.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that nearly 70 percent of the Earth’s fresh-water supply is locked up in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland?

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2525252525

25. How much would seas rise if the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted?The Antarctic Ice Sheet holds nearly 90 percent of the world’s ice and70 percent of its fresh water. If the entire ice sheet were to melt, sealevel would rise by nearly 220 feet, or the height of a 20-story building.Scientists know there’s a melting trend under way. The United Nationshas said that in a worst-case scenario — depending on how muchglobal air temperatures increase — seas could jump 3 feet (1 meter)by 2100.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that on average, about 400 billion gallons of water is used worldwide each day?

2626262626

26. Why is Earth mostly crater-free compared to the pockmarkedmoon?Earth is more active interms of both geology and weather. On Earth -craters that can be millions of years old — get overgrown by vegetation,weathered by wind and rain, and modified by earthquakes andlandslides. The moon, meanwhile, is geologically quiet and has almostno weather; its craters tell a billion-year-long tale of catastrophiccollisions.

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M.vDRI♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the Earthtravels at more than 105,000kph or 29.17 km/s, coveringmillions of miles each year as it journeys through space?

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2727272727

27. Can an earthquake cause a tsunami?If the earthquake originates under the ocean, yes. Near the earthquake’sepicenter, the sea floor rises and falls, pushing all the water above it upand down. This motion produces a wave that travels outward in alldirections. A tsunami can be massive but remain relatively low in heightin deep water. Upon nearing the shore, it is forced up and can reachthe height of tall buildings. One in December 26th, 2004 was triggeredby an earth quake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia which carriedwaves all the way to Thailand, India and even as far as East Africa.Asteroids can cause tsunami, too.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that most tsunami wavescome onshore more like very strong andfast tides and not giant breaking waves?

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2828282828

28. What is the fastest surface wind ever recorded?The fastest “regular” wind that’s widely agreed upon was 231 mph(372 kilometers per hour), recorded at Mount Washington, N.H., onApril 12, 1934. But during a May 1999 tornado in Oklahoma,researchers clocked the wind at 318 mph (513 kilometers per hour).For comparison, Neptune’s winds can rage to 900 mph (1,448kilometers per hour).

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that Debris flows are like mud avalanches and can move at speeds in excess of 160 kilometers per hour?

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2929292929

29. Do things inside Earth flow?You bet. In fact, scientists found in 1999 that molten material in andaround Earth’s core moves in vortices, swirling pockets whose dynamicsare similar to tornadoes and hurricanes. And as you’ll learn later in thislist, the planet’s core moves in other strange ways, too.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the temperature of Earth increases about 20 degrees Celsius for every kilometer you go down? Near the center, its thought to be at least 3,870 Celsius.

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3030303030

30. Were Earth and the moon separated at birth?Not quite. But leading theory holds that our favorite satellite was carvedpartly from Earth shortly after the Earth formed. A Mars-sized objectslammed into our fledgling planet. The impactor was destroyed. Stuffflew everywhere and a lot of it went into orbit around Earth. The moongathered itself together out of the largely vaporized remains of the col-lision, while Earth hung in there pretty much intact.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know our planet is more than 4.5billion years old, just a shade younger than thesun?

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3131313131

31. Does Earth have the worst weather in the solar system?Right now, it’s the worst that most humans I know ever experience.But there’s lots of wilder weather elsewhere. Mars can whip uphurricanelike storms four times bigger than Burma. Dust storms on theRed Planet can obscure the entire globe! Jupiter has a hurricane twicethe size our entire planet, and it’s lasted for at least three centuries(another storm on Jupiter is even bigger). Venus is a living hell, andPluto is routinely more frigid than the coldest place on Earth (thoughmay change one day, and Pluto may in fact become the last oasis forlife).

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♦♦♦♦♦ Everyone knows that Saturn has rings. But did you know that Jupiter and Neptune both have subtle ring systems and even Earth may once have been a ringed planet?♦ ySRud;*R’J;oh.ng0J’.vX Saturn M.td.’D;

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3232323232

32. Have there always been continents?Not as we know them today. Many scientists figure Earth began asone huge continent — dry as a bone. Water was delivered in comets,the thinking goes, and the oceans developed. Much more recently, allthe world’s land masses were huddled into one supercontinent calledPangaea. It began to break up about 225 million years ago, eventuallyfragmenting into the continents as we know them today.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that if the ocean’s totalsalt content were dried, it would cover the continents to a depth of 1.2 meters?

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33. Does all of Earth spin at the same rate?The solid inner core — a mass of iron comparable to the size of themoon — spins faster than the outer portion of the iron core, which isliquid. A study in 1996 showed that over the previous century, theextra speed caused the inner core to gain a quarter-turn on the planetas a whole. So the inner core makes a complete revolution with re-spect to the rest of Earth in about 400 years. Immense pressure keepsit solid.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know much of Earth is fluid with the mostly solid skin of the planet averages only 35 kilometers thick — thinner than the skinof an apple, relatively speaking.

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34. How long is a day on Venus?A day on Venus is longer than a year on the planet! It takes Venus 243Earth days to rotate once on it’s axis but only 225 Earth days to revolvearound the Sun.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that Venus rotates in the opposite direction as Earth? On Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east!

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3535353535

35. Which planets have moons?Well of course Earth has one moon but several other planets havemoons, as well. Mars has 2, Jupiter has at least 61, Saturn at least 31,Uranus at least 25, Neptune at least 8 and Pluto has at least 1.Astronomers often find new moons orbiting the planets so thesenumbers may continue to rise.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that it takes the Moon 27.3 days to revolve around the Earth?

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36. What causes a rainbow?It takes two things to cause a rainbow: sunlight and raindrops. Whensunlight shines through raindrops, the light is bent, and beautiful colorsare seen against the clouds. Each color of the rainbow is made bymany raindrops bending the light at a particular angle.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that a passing cyclone once dropped nearly 4 meters of rain in just 24 hours on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean 1952? That is a world record.

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3737373737

37. Can people tell when an earthquake will happen?No, they can’t. Scientists have no way to accurately predict earthquakesbut animals might to able to. Stories tell about rats, snakes, centipedes,worms and beetles leaving Hellas, Greece, in droves just before alarge earthquake in 373 B.C. It is said that in Tashkent, Uzbekistan1966, one hour before an earthquake, masses of ants carried theireggs out of their anthills.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that most earthquakes are triggered less than 80 kilometers from Earth’s surface?

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3838383838

38. What is the difference between stars and planets?Planets aren’t as big or as hot as stars, and they can’t make light oftheir own. They were made from the leftovers of the same gas anddust cloud that gave birth to their nearest star.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that light from our star, the Sun, takes 8.3 minutes to reach us?

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3939393939

39. Will the sun ever go out?One day the Sun will use up all its gas fuel and die. But this won’thappen in your lifetime, or even your great-great-great grandchildren’s!Astronomers think that the Sun has enough gas fuel to last for at leastanother 5 billion years.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the Sun uses more than 30 million truck loads of fuel every second?

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40. Where do most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occuron Earth?The majority occur along boundaries of the dozen or so major platesthat more or less float on the surface of Earth. One of the most activeplate boundaries where earthquakes and eruptions are frequent, forexample, is around the massive Pacific Plate commonly referred to asthe Pacific Ring of Fire. It fuels shaking and baking from Japan toAlaska to South America.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that the sound from the eruption of the Krakatau volcano in 1883 traveled nearly 5000 km?

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4141414141

41. How can you tell how old a mountain is?The shape of a mountain can tell you a lot. Mountains with sharp,jagged shapes are fairly young mountains – only a few million yearsold! Older mountains have more rounded shapes, worn smooth by thewind and rain.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that it takes about 1,000 years to wear down a mountain only 8 cm?

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42. What is the world’s deepest lake?Lake Baikal in the south central part of Siberia is 1.7 kilometers deep.It’s about 20 million years old and contains 20 percent of Earth’s freshliquid water.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that even though we have water coming out of our ears, only one percent of it is drinkable? Most of it is frozen or salty.

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43. What is the world’s largest desert?The Sahara Desert in northern Africa is the largest desert in the worldand covers about 7,700,000 sq km. This is about one-third of thewhole of Africa.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the highest sand dunes are in the Sahara Desert? Some are over 400 meters high!

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44. How many people would it take to stretch around the world?It’s about 40,100 km around Earth from the equator. That means itwould take 33,000,000 people holding hands to reach all the wayaround.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that according to the UN and other estimates, the world population reached 6 billion in 1999?

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45. Why do you see the lightning before you hear the thunder?The reason we almost always see the lightning before hearing the thunderis because light travels much faster than sound. Thunder and lightninghappen in the same place at about the same time. In fact, the lightningproduces the thunder. When lightning occurs, the nearby air becomesvery hot and expands quickly, causing an explosion. The sound ofthunder is really the sound of this explosion.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that you can tell how far away astorm is by counting the number of secondsbetween the lightning and the thunder? Thestorm is 1 kilometer away for every3 seconds you count.

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46. Is air mostly oxygen?Earth’s atmosphere is actually about 80 percent nitrogen. Most of therest is oxygen, with tiny amounts of other stuff thrown in. Near theground there is plenty of oxygen but the higher you go into theatmosphere, the less oxygen there is.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that the Earth’s atmosphere reaches out into spaceabout 500 km?

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47. How big was the largest diamond?Did you know that the world’s biggest diamond was found in SouthAfrica in 1905. It weighted more than half a Kilogram or 3,106 carats.Named the “The Cullinan”, it was cut into 106 polished diamonds.

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♦♦♦♦♦ Did you know that diamonds are the hardest mineral in the world?

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48. Why is space black and the sky blue?About 20 miles above the Earth, the sky appears black. So whathappens between there and here? Light, you might know, travels inwaves. And the waves of different colors of light are different lengths.Sunlight is a mixture of all those different colors. When the sunlighttravels through the thickest part of the atmosphere, the shortwavelengths of blue light get scattered. So what we see when we lookat the sky during the daytime is the scattered blue light.

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♦♦♦♦♦Did you know that the sea looks bluebecause it reflects the color of the sky?

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49. What percentage of the world’s water is in the oceans?About 97 percent. Oceans make up about two-thirds of Earth’s surface,which means that when the next asteroid hits the planet, odds are goodit will splash down.

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50. Will Earth always be here?Astronomers know that over the next few billion years, the sun willswell so large as to envelop Earth. If we’re still here, we’ll probably fryand the planet will be vaporized. There’s a chance, however, that thechanging mass of the sun will cause Earth to move into a more distantand pleasant orbit. One mathematical calculation shows it would betheoretically possible for humans to engineer such a move before it’stoo late.

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