Why Mercury, Venus, and the Moon Do not Have Significant Erosion - Assignment Example

Other factors may contribute to erosion according to Strobel: The Moon and Mercury lack significant atmospheres because they lack outgassing today, and any atmospheric gases they had in the distant past have been lost to space. Venus has little erosion because its slow rotation gives it virtually no wind on its surface (Strobel) There is a good explanation for why planetary size matters when it comes to erosion. First, smaller planets like Mercury ( the smallest ) cools faster than large planets like Mars.

Since larger planets retain more heat that eventually promotes volcanism and tectonics, there is significant atmosphere created by outgassing. When it comes to planetary distance to the sun, planets that are situated near the sun are exposed to too much heat thereby atmosphere is hard to maintain so erosion is not possible. As for the moon, it does not have any water on its surface which means that chemical erosion is not possible. With regards to its size, it is only 1/80 of the Earth’s mass which makes it improbable to retain heat and create outgassing that may produce a significant atmosphere.