Name: _________________________________________________

1. Describe what maria are, their ages, how they are formed and why they are so smooth. (10 points)

2. Describe and compare two of the following formation theories for the Moon, and describe their good features (i.e., why they were proposed in the first place), their bad features or weaknesses, and why they were ultimately rejected (or kept): a) form in place, b) fission hypothesis, c) capture hypothesis, d) great impactor (10pts)

3. Since the Earth is larger than the Moon, and has a much larger gravitational attraction, it therefore probably suffered more meteor/asteroid impacts than the Moon. Why don't we see those features here? What are the processes that erase them? Why don't small meteorites pulverize the Earth's surface like they do the Moon? (5 pts)