Exploring Mercury’s Petrologic Evolution Through Experimental and Modeling Approaches

Mercury has a compositionally diverse surface that represents different periods of volcanic activity early in its history. Understanding the structure of Mercury’s mantle that formed during the magma ocean stage is the first step to developing a petrologic model for Mercury. Evaluating the physical processes that could occur post-magma ocean solidification can provide addition predictions to the formation of the source regions that created the different terranes on the surface. This work explores the evolution of Mercury from magma ocean crystallization to post-magma ocean mantle dynamics via experimental, analytical, and modeling techniques to predict the interior evolution of Mercury and how that could produced the diverse surface we see today.

Видео Exploring Mercury’s Petrologic Evolution Through Experimental and Modeling Approaches канала Lunar and Planetary Institute