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Learning path

Understanding Planetary Geology

How to read the surface of a world — the craters, volcanoes, canyons, dunes, and ice plains that record a planet's history. Built on real NASA/JPL planetary data across the Solar System; nothing is fabricated.

In pictures

Beginner
  1. 1.1Reading a planet's surfaceEvery solid world tells its story in its landforms.
  2. 1.2Impact cratersThe most common landform, and a clock for dating surfaces.
  3. 1.3VolcanoesFrom Olympus Mons to the ice volcanoes of the outer worlds.
  4. 1.4Feature typesThe families of landform across the Solar System.
Intermediate
  1. 2.1Canyons and tectonicsHow a world's crust cracks, faults, and folds.
  2. 2.2Volcanic featuresLava plains, shield volcanoes, and cryovolcanoes.
  3. 2.3Water on MarsAncient river deltas and the search for past life.
  4. 2.4The surface of VenusTesserae, coronae, and the highest mountains on Venus.
Advanced
  1. 3.1The icy worldsChaos terrain, ice plains, and hydrocarbon lakes.
  2. 3.2CryovolcanismVolcanoes that erupt ice, from Ceres to Enceladus.
  3. 3.3Pluto's nitrogen glaciersA churning, flowing plain of nitrogen ice.
  4. 3.4Titan's methane seasThe only other world with stable surface liquid.

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