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Why are there fewer impact craters on the earth than the moon and mercury?
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Mainly because of the Earth's atmosphere. First of all, when meteors enter the atmosphere, many of them burn up completely before they reach the surface of the Earth. Secondly, the atmosphere, including wind and rain, tend to obliterate or bury the traces of those impacts that do occur.
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
Wiki User
∙ 16y agoThe lack of an atmosphere in space and the fact that the moons crust is not moving allow for the preservation of the craters on the moon while rather most visible craters on earth are only large ones.
Wiki User
∙ 16y agoEarth has an atmosphere and volcanic activity. The atmosphere burns many objects up and plate tectonics along with volcanic activity fills in many craters. Rain and wind erode craters and approx. 70% of the earth is covered with water which helps in decreasing cratering.
Wiki User
∙ 7y agoBecause the earth has an atmosphere, while the moon doesn't, and our atmosphere burns up most of the meteors that enter the atmosphere.
The Earth also has erosion, cities and other man made structures that "erase" any impact craters.
Moon doesn't have weathering or atmosphere (not enough gravity)
Simply because of our atmosphere ! When meteors travel though our atmosphere, almost all of them burn up due to the friction created by the speed they're travelling. The moon has no atmosphere to protect it - thus any meteors on a collision-course, impact on the surface leaving a crater.
The Earth has been hit by more meteors and asteroids than the moon (though most burn up in our atmosphere). Some craters in fact exist on Earth. But often these craters are weathered way by rain and wind erosion, then ground up by movements in our tectonic plates. The moon has none of these factors to erode its craters (and little atmosphere to shield it). So the only things that have changed or eroded craters on the moon are volcanic activity (for older craters) and hits by even more meteors. Hence by the moon has so many more craters than we do.
a few reasons.
1) earth has an atmosphere that breaks up most meteorites making them small and non-impactful.
2) we have oceans where about 2/3 of the strikes of big meteorites would happen. We don't really see those craters - although they undoubtedly exist.
3) Erosion. There are a lot of strikes on Earth that you can't see because they've worn down over time. They don't erode on the moon...
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoCraters on the Moon last FOREVER; there's no wind, no rain, no weather to erode or erase the markings. And so craters that formed hundreds of millions of years ago are still visible.
On the Earth, any crater would be washed away by rain, eroded by rivers and floods, shattered by earthquakes and continental drift, or clawed down by animals large or small. Only in rare places on Earth can a large crater persist for even 60,000 years, that being the approximate age of the Barringer Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona.
And remember, the Earth is 3/4 covered by water. That means that 75% or so of the meteor strikes that fall, land in the water.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoOn Earth, erosion will eliminate traces of most craters over time. Plate tectonics, lava flows, and erosion by wind and water have obliterated the oldest craters. Only a few, comparatively younger examples (such as the Barringer Crater) have retained a semblance of their original appearance.
On the Moon, there are no plate tectonics or lava flows. Thre is no wind or water to erase the craters. The only ways that they change is the slow chemical action of the Sun, and the impact of other newer meteors on and around them.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoThe atmosphere of the Earth burns up some of the meteor impacts, volcanic activity on the Earth as opposed to the moon and Mercury, covers many impact sites over the years and the Earth has wind, water and all other types of erosion that the moon and Mercury do not.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoIt does but they get wiped out by the weather e.g the rain but the moon for example does not have weather :o
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoEarth generally has fewer impacts than the moon because the atmosphere protects the earth's surface.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agobecause the moon doesnt have an atmosphere and the earth does.
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Why does earth have fewer impact craters than the moon?
The earth has atmosphere and liquid water, whereas Mercury has neither. Their presence works against the appearance of impact craters in at least two ways: 1). The vast majority of material objects on a course to strike the earth burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface. Those that are large enough to survive the entry are reduced in size, mass, and speed before impact. 2). The marks left by impacts that do occur become worn down or "weathered" by the effects of both the atmosphere and the water on earth.
Will a planet with active volcanoes have more or fewer craters than a planet without active volcanoes?
A planet with active volcanoes will have fewer craters, as older craters will tend to be buried by lava and ash.
Would a planet with active or less active volcanoes have more craters?
A planet with fewer active volcanoes would have more craters, as the ash and lava from volcanoes will cover existing craters.
Why does the earth have fewer meteorite impact?
They are less common because most meteors burn up entirely before they get a chance to strike the earth and become meteorites.
How does a planet's atmosphere affect its number of impact craters?
An atmosphere will lessen both the amount and size of impact craters by burning meteoroids so they get smaller or even disappear entirely. If there is no atmosphere, the object will simply hit the planet or moon with no reduction in its size. Earth's atmosphere does this because the air molecules create friction when the meteoroid passes through it. The friction is hot enough to burn the meteoroid up entirely or at least down in size. An atmosphere means fewer and smaller meteoroids. (When a meteoroid does make it to the ground, it then is called a meteorite.)
Does the planet Venus' have craters?
Venus has about 1,000 young craters, the biggest of which is Crater Mead, about 170 mile across. Oddly, there is no evidence on Venus of old craters like we see on the moon, Earth, and Mars. Somehow these old craters were smoothed over on Venus . . . by lava flow?? By high winds??
Why are there fewer large impact craters on the Earth's seafloor than on the continents?
The seafloor crust is younger than the continental crust.
Why does earth have fewer impact craters than the moon?
The earth has atmosphere and liquid water, whereas Mercury has neither. Their presence works against the appearance of impact craters in at least two ways: 1). The vast majority of material objects on a course to strike the earth burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface. Those that are large enough to survive the entry are reduced in size, mass, and speed before impact. 2). The marks left by impacts that do occur become worn down or "weathered" by the effects of both the atmosphere and the water on earth.
Does the moon have more craters than earth?
No. Earth has far fewer craters. Most that once existed on Earth have been eroded, buried, or otherwise destroyed by geologic activity.
If mercury had a heavy atmosphere would there be more or fewer craters on its surface why?
There would be fewer. This is not because, as is widely believed, the atmosphere acts as a shield. While an atmosphere will cause smaller objects to break up, it will not hinder the larger objects that leave craters that are plainly visible from space. However, action from an atmosphere can erode craters and bury them under sediment.
Will a planet with active volcanoes have more or fewer craters than a planet without active volcanoes?
A planet with active volcanoes will have fewer craters, as older craters will tend to be buried by lava and ash.
Which planet is less than half the diameter of the earth and look like your own moon?
Mercury best answers this question, as it is the only planet less than half the size of Earth (whereas Mars is about 2/3rds the size of Earth and Venus about 3/4ths) and has almost no atmosphere (like the moon) (whereas Mars has much more atmosphere than the Moon or Mercury, though quite thin compared with the other planets, and Venus has a very thick atmosphere even compared with Earth); this lack of atmosphere lets craters accumulate on Mercury's surface, much like our Moon's; on Venus, Earth and Mars, our atmospheres are thick enough that fewer asteroids are able to survive descent to create craters in the first place and even when asteroids and other bodies in space are able to impact the surfaces of Venus, Earth or Mars, weather will, over time, erode away those impact craters (even on Mars; its atmosphere is sufficiently thick to give it very impressive dust storms which can erode raised crater rims and fill crater basins). However, Mercury has a number of significant differences than the moon, chiefly that it is much denser (in fact, it is denser than earth and all other planets) with a large iron core (the moon has very little iron by comparison) ... in fact, Mercury's iron core is estimated to be larger than Earth's (but has much less stuff outside the core, so the planet overall is significantly smaller than Earth). The moon has no magnetic field of its own, but Mercury does (although only about 1% as strong as earth's). Because it is much closer to the sun, Mercury is much warmer than our Moon.
What has more influence on tides moon or sun?
The earth has actually receives more large impacts than the moon because it is a larger target, but we don't usually notice them because plate tectonics and other forces resurface the earth eliminating the craters completely and erosion wears them down making them hard to identify. None of these forces operate on the moon, so the impact craters all remain easy to see.The earth does receive fewer small impacts than the moon because these objects usually burn up in the atmosphere. The moon has no atmosphere, thus all these small objects also produce impact craters.
How do you use crater counts to determine the age of surfaces?
The more craters, the older the surface. If a surface is young, there will be fewer craters.
Would a planet with active or less active volcanoes have more craters?
A planet with fewer active volcanoes would have more craters, as the ash and lava from volcanoes will cover existing craters.
Why do you think earths surface has fewer craters than the surface than moon does?
Basically, the atmosphere protects the earth to a great degree and the geological process always going on in and on the earth cover and change many crater sites.
Why does the earth have fewer visible craters than the moon?
Because Earth has an atmosphere which protects it from most of the space dust and meteors. Most of them burn up in the atmosphere on entry, only the very large ones make impact. While on the moon, since it has no atmosphere anything crashes in and leaves a crater. An other reason is that there is no erosion by wind or water on the Moon, which causes the crater to stay visible for ever, while on Earth it fades away in time.
