The reasons behind the current controversy surrounding global warming, and climate change in general, will be presented. We'll investigate the processes that have shaped Earth's surface as well as the surfaces of Mars, Venus, and the Moon, and will rely heavily on data collected from recent and on-going missions to the bottom of the ocean, and to Mars. The associated laboratory has been redesigned and improved to incorporate recent geologic advances made by solar system exploration. We'll still learn to identify rocks and minerals, but we'll also investigate how they form and their economic value. Moon rocks, returned from the Apollo missions, and meteorites from Mars will be studied, and we'll learn about the cratering process by generating craters in the laboratory.
Radar uses longer wavelengths, and successfully images the surface of Venus.
We interpret these domes to be volcanic features, but they are orders of magnitude larger than similar features on Earth. The origin and composition of these domes remains a matter of intense controversy.