The topography and gravity of Mare Serenitatis: implications for subsidence of the mare surface

Extensional troughs in the Caloris Basin of Mercury: Evidence of lateral crustal flow

“…The initial basin shape is flat floored, in agreement with recent studies of gravity anomalies associated with lunar mascons (Watters and Konopliv, 2001). The lowercrustal flow model (Nimmo and Stevenson, 2001) was used to calculate the evolution of the basin topography, assuming a temperatureand stress-dependent dry plagioclase rheology, a crustal thickness (120 km), and heat flux (23.7 mWm Ϫ2 ) consistent with previous estimates (Anderson et al, 1996;Nimmo and Watters, 2004).…”

Emplacement and tectonic deformation of smooth plains in the Caloris basin, Mercury

“…The timing and rate of interior uplift would be determined by the crustal thickness, crustal rheology, and mantle heat flux. Under suitable assumptions, including that of a flat-floored initial basin geometry by analogy with inferences from gravity data for lunar mascons (Watters and Konopliv, 2001), the model yields maximum surface extensional stresses at radial distances similar to those of the basin-concentric graben (Watters et al, 2005).…”

Local gravity from Lunar Prospector tracking data: Results for Mare Serenitatis

“…This figure shows that the areas near the margins of the mare are lower than the centre. East/west trends in the topography across the basin however show a less prominent central topographic high (Watters and Konopliv, 2001).…”

“…Such a high-resolution solution can for instance be used in combination with topography to study the characteristics of mare fill and the sub-surface structure, as was done by Watters and Konopliv (2001). The solution presented here has been obtained by processing LuCopyright c The Society of Geomagnetism and Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences (SGEPSS); The Seismological Society of Japan; The Volcanological Society of Japan; The Geodetic Society of Japan; The Japanese Society for Planetary Sciences; TERRAPUB.…”