The Comparative Study of the Planets : Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute Held at Vulcano (Aeolian Islands), Italy, September 14–25, 1981

The volume gathers the prominent works by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute, liThe Comparative Study of the Planets", which was held at Vulcano (Aeolian Islands) from September 14 to September 25, 1981. The book is intended to be a landmark for all those inter­ ested in the problems disclosed through the close-up exploration of planets and satellites, either for professional reasons or Simply for scientific knowledge. The topics dealt with concern all methodologies by which the members of the Solar System have been studied and the audience to whom the volume is addressed is, in addition to the experts, mailllly graduate and post-graduate students attending courses in Earth Sciences, Physics and Astro­ nomy. The aim we intend to achieve in editing this volume is to offer to planetologists an overview of the present state of knowledge, using the comparative study of the planets as a basis on which to build the themes treated. We think it is one of the fe, ... publications of this type, which includes all the subjects concerning the study of a planet. We hope we have succeeded in conveying through the book the message which was clearly expressed by the lecturers of the ASI in Vulcano: what counts most at this stage of planetary research is to be able to single out the fun­ damental problems and choose the appropriate set of data to use in approaching these problems. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Some Remarks on the Formation of Terrestrial Planets....Pages 3-24 Origin and Evolution of the Giant Planets....Pages 25-48 Origin of Regular Satellites....Pages 49-59 Ganymede and Callisto:Accumulation Heat Content....Pages 61-70 The Shape of Small Solar System Bodies: Gravitational Equilibrium vs. Solid-State Interactions....Pages 71-77 Meteorites and Cosmochemistry....Pages 79-84 Ages of the Solar System: Isotopic Dating....Pages 85-94 Do the Age Differences Given by Relative or Absolute Chronologies of the Most Ancient Meteorites Correspond to Real Age Differences?....Pages 95-100 Solar System Cratering Chronology and Dating of the Surface Structures of the Terrestrial-Type Planets....Pages 101-116 The Stability of the Solar System....Pages 117-124 Dynamics of the Asteroids....Pages 125-130 On the Orbital Evolution of Short-Period Comets Having Low-Velocity Encounters with Jupiter....Pages 131-148 Front Matter....Pages 149-149 The Internal Structure of the Sun, its Pulsations and the Neutrino Problem....Pages 151-160 Heat Transfer and the Development of Internal Structure in the Terrestrial Planets....Pages 161-180 Secular Trends in Polar Motions: A New Tool for Probing the Viscosity of the Lower Mantle....Pages 181-194 High Precision Tracking of Synchronous Satellites for Geophysical Purposes....Pages 195-202 Atmospheric Evolution....Pages 203-220 Circulation Systems in Planetary Atmospheres....Pages 221-252 The Case for a Bimodal Size Distribution in Titan’s Upper Haze Layer....Pages 253-260 Elements of Comparative Magnetoplanetology....Pages 261-290 Front Matter....Pages 149-149 Lunar Palaeomagnetism....Pages 291-294 The Present Picture of Io’s Electrodynamic Coupling with the Magnetosphere of Jupiter....Pages 295-309 Structure of Small Meteoroids Deduced from Two Station Low Light Level TV Observations of Meteor Trails....Pages 311-315 Near Infrared Spectroscopy of Comet Bradfield 1980....Pages 317-322 Impact Cratering Mechanics....Pages 323-331 Experimental Study of Effects Associated with Macroscopic Hypervelocity Impacts....Pages 333-357 The “Trumpet Charge”, A Technique for Producing Macroscopic Hypervelocity Projectiles....Pages 359-362 A Possible Mechanism for Impact Magnetisation of Cratered Surfaces....Pages 363-366 The Effects of Microparticle Hypervelocity Impacts on Polished Surfaces: Tests for the Choice of the Halley Multicolour Camera....Pages 367-387 Front Matter....Pages 389-389 Geologic Overview of the Terrestrial Planets....Pages 391-407 Faulting and Fracturing of Planetary Surfaces....Pages 409-418 Aeolian Modification of Planetary Surfaces....Pages 419-434 Some Thermodynamic Relationships Governing the Behavior of Permafrost and Frozen Ground....Pages 435-440 Lava Flows on ETNA, A Morphometric Study....Pages 441-458 A Petrological Model on Magma Evolution of Vulcano Eruptive Complex (Aeolian Islands — Italy)....Pages 459-476 Morphology and Network Patterns of Martian Valleys....Pages 477-483 Stratigraphic Relationships among the Upper Layers of the Outer Galilean Satellites, Inferred from the Investigation of their Ray Systems....Pages 485-494 Back Matter....Pages 495-516