Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-xxrs7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T10:42:19.170Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - The Geologic History of Mercury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2018

Sean C. Solomon
Affiliation:
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York
Larry R. Nittler
Affiliation:
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington DC
Brian J. Anderson
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland
Get access

Summary

We assess Mercury’s geologic history, focusing on the distribution and origin of terrain types and an overview of Mercury’s evolution from the pre-Tolstojan through the Kuiperian Period. We review evidence for the nature of Mercury’s early crust, including the possibility that a substantial portion formed by the global eruption of lavas generated by partial melting during and after overturn of the crystalline products of magma ocean cooling, whereas a much smaller fraction of the crust may have been derived from crystal flotation in such a magma ocean. The early history of Mercury may thus have been similar to that of the other terrestrial planets, with much of the crust formed through volcanism, in contrast to the flotation-dominated crust of the Moon. Small portions of Mercury’s early crust may still be exposed in a heavily modified and brecciated form; the majority of the surface is dominated by intercrater plains (Pre-Tolstojan and Tolstojan in age) and smooth plains (Tolstojan and Calorian) that formed through a combination of volcanism and impact events. As effusive volcanism waned in the Calorian, explosive volcanism continued at least through the Mansurian Period; the Kuiperian Period was dominated by impact events and the formation of hollows. 
Type
Chapter
Information
Mercury
The View after MESSENGER
, pp. 144 - 175
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×