Evidence for geochemical terranes on Mercury: Global mapping of major elements with MESSENGER's X-Ray Spectrometer

Weider, S. Z.; Nittler, L. R.; Starr, R.; Crapster-Pregont, E. J.; Peplowski, P. N.; Denevi, Brett W.; Head, J. W.; Byrne, P. K.; Hauck, Steven A.; Ebel, D. S.; Solomon, Sean C.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.01.023

Cited by 171 publications

(277 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

265

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the western region of H02, IMP are approximately located inside the high-Mg region described by Weider et al (2015). In the eastern region, IMP correspond approximately to an area previously mapped as SP by Denevi et al (2013), p. 894, which is characterised by high Al abundance (Weider et al, 2015). Whitten et al (2014) state that IMP show similar ages to ICP of Tolstojan and Pre-Tolstojan period, though the lower crater density and superposition relationships (where apparent) confirm that IMP is younger than ICP.…”

Section: Intermediate Plainsmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Moreover, where there are gradational contacts, IMP was limited to smoother terrains, leaving areas with slightly higher crater density outside the contact. In the western region of H02, IMP are approximately located inside the high-Mg region described by Weider et al (2015). In the eastern region, IMP correspond approximately to an area previously mapped as SP by Denevi et al (2013), p. 894, which is characterised by high Al abundance (Weider et al, 2015).…”

Section: Intermediate Plainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mercury's quadrangle H02 'Victoria' is located in the planet's northern hemisphere and lies between latitudes 22.5°N and 65°N, and between longitudes 270°E and 360°E. This quadrangle covers 6.5% of the planet's surface with a total area of almost 5 million km 2 . Our 1:3,000,000-scale geologic map of the quadrangle was produced by photo-interpretation of remotely sensed orbital images captured by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Geologic contacts were drawn between 1:300,000 and 1:600,000 mapping scale and constitute the boundaries of intercrater, intermediate and smooth plains units; in addition, three morpho-stratigraphic classes of craters larger than 20 km were mapped. The geologic map reveals that this area is dominated by Intercrater Plains encompassing some almost-coeval, probably younger, Intermediate Plains patches and interrupted to the north-west, north-east and east by the Calorian Northern Smooth Plains. This map represents the first complete geologic survey of the Victoria quadrangle at this scale, and an improvement of the existing 1:5,000,000 Mariner 10-based map, which covers only 36% of the quadrangle. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

Section: Intermediate Plainsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Intermediate Plainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These deposits have entirely filled the basin produced by the Caloris impact. Spectral evidence (Weider et al, 2015) suggests that these materials are different in composition if compared to Caloris-surrounding and Northern SP. The extent of CSP is interpretative because the transition between SP and CSP is unclear.…”

Section: Geologic Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geology of the Raditladi quadrangle, Mercury (H04)

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this work, we present a 1:3,000,000-scale geologic map of the Raditladi quadrangle (H04) of Mercury. The area covers nearly 7% of the entire planet and encompasses several features of interest such as the Caloris basin, the Raditladi basin, hollow clusters and volcanic features. The mapping took advantage of the data produced during MESSENGER's orbital phase. The mapped deposits include impact-related units observed at several scales from the Caloris basin to the secondary crater chains. The Smooth Plains unit covers the majority of the area, mantling the older Intercrater Plains and Bright Intercrater Plains units. Results show that the emplacement of all the main units and the Caloris impact event, representing the main geologic events in the quadrangle, were concentrated between 3.96 and 3.72 Ga. After this intense phase, the geologic framework was modified only by local events such as impact craters and hollow formation. This map is among the first products for the detailed geologic characterization of Mercury at such a scale. It will contribute as a constraint and a support for both further local investigation and mapping, and targeting of the forthcoming BepiColombo ESA/JAXA joint exploration mission to Mercury. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

“…It is made of a very large core (∼65 wt.% of the planet; ) and a thin mantle (420 ± 30 km; Hauck et al, 2013;Padovan et al, 2015) dominated by olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, ± spinel and feldspar Charlier et al, 2013;Namur et al, 2016;Vander Kaaden and McCubbin, 2016). Building blocks of Mercury could be compositionally close to enstatite chondrite or bencubbinite chondrite mete- The data for the Mercurian crust were calculated using the MESSENGER data presented by Weider et al (2015). The complete list of references and number of analyses used in the compilation are given in Appendix.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sulfur solubility in reduced mafic silicate melts: Implications for the speciation and distribution of sulfur on Mercury

Namur

Charlier

Holtz

et al. 2016

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

118

160

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chemical data from the MESSENGER spacecraft revealed that surface rocks on Mercury are unusually enriched in sulfur compared to samples from other terrestrial planets. In order to understand the speciation and distribution of sulfur on Mercury, we performed high temperature (1200-1750 • C), lowto high-pressure (1 bar to 4 GPa) experiments on compositions representative of Mercurian lavas and on the silicate composition of an enstatite chondrite. We equilibrated silicate melts with sulfide and metallic melts under highly reducing conditions (IW-1.5 to IW-9.4; IW = iron-wüstite oxygen fugacity buffer). Under these oxygen fugacity conditions, sulfur dissolves in the silicate melt as S 2− and forms complexes with Fe 2+ , Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ . The sulfur concentration in silicate melts at sulfide saturation (SCSS) increases with increasing reducing conditions (from <1 wt.% S at IW-2 to >10 wt.% S at IW-8) and with increasing temperature. Metallic melts have a low sulfur content which decreases from 3 wt.% at IW-2 to 0 wt.% at IW-9. We developed an empirical parameterization to predict SCSS in Mercurian magmas as a function of oxygen fugacity ( f O 2 ), temperature, pressure and silicate melt composition. SCSS being not strictly a redox reaction, our expression is fully valid for magmatic systems containing a metal phase. Using physical constraints of the Mercurian mantle and magmas as well as our experimental results, we suggest that basalts on Mercury were free of sulfide globules when they erupted. The high sulfur contents revealed by MESSENGER result from the high sulfur solubility in silicate melt at reducing conditions. We make the realistic assumption that the oxygen fugacity of mantle rocks was set during equilibration of the magma ocean with the core and/or that the mantle contains a minor metal phase and combine our parameterization of SCSS with chemical data from MESSENGER to constrain the oxygen fugacity of Mercury's interior to IW-5.4 ± 0.4. We also calculate that the mantle of Mercury contains 7-11 wt.% S and that the metallic core of the planet has little sulfur (<1.5 wt.% S). The external part of the Mercurian core is likely to be made up of a thin (<90 km) FeS layer.

show abstract

Evidence for geochemical terranes on Mercury: Global mapping of major elements with MESSENGER's X-Ray Spectrometer

Cited by 171 publications

References 44 publications

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

Geology of the Raditladi quadrangle, Mercury (H04)

Sulfur solubility in reduced mafic silicate melts: Implications for the speciation and distribution of sulfur on Mercury

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About