Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Prologue
- 1 The planets: their formation and differentiation
- 2 A primary crust: the highland crust of the Moon
- 3 A secondary crust: the lunar maria
- 4 Mercury
- 5 Mars: early differentiation and planetary composition
- 6 Mars: crustal composition and evolution
- 7 Venus: a twin planet to Earth?
- 8 The oceanic crust of the Earth
- 9 The Hadean crust of the Earth
- 10 The Archean crust of the Earth
- 11 The Post-Archean continental crust
- 12 Composition and evolution of the continental crust
- 13 Crusts on minor bodies
- 14 Reflections: the elusive patterns of planetary crusts
- Indexes
- References
4 - Mercury
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 October 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Prologue
- 1 The planets: their formation and differentiation
- 2 A primary crust: the highland crust of the Moon
- 3 A secondary crust: the lunar maria
- 4 Mercury
- 5 Mars: early differentiation and planetary composition
- 6 Mars: crustal composition and evolution
- 7 Venus: a twin planet to Earth?
- 8 The oceanic crust of the Earth
- 9 The Hadean crust of the Earth
- 10 The Archean crust of the Earth
- 11 The Post-Archean continental crust
- 12 Composition and evolution of the continental crust
- 13 Crusts on minor bodies
- 14 Reflections: the elusive patterns of planetary crusts
- Indexes
- References
Summary
The laws of motion of Mercury are extremely complicated; they do not take place exactly in the plane of the ecliptic
(Pierre-Simon Laplace)The planet
Mercury is a unique planet even by the standards of the Solar System. Like Mars, it is a survivor of many similar bodies, possibly a dozen or more, that formerly were present in the inner Solar System before the hierarchical assembly of the Earth and Venus. Thus the investigation of this planet may yield important insights into the early stages of the accretion of planets between the assembly of kilometer-size objects and of the Earth-sized bodies (Chapter 1).
Because so little is known about this smallest planet, one might question the wisdom of including here a separate chapter on Mercury. Although it was tempting to include this discussion in a section under minor bodies (Chapter 13), we decided on separate treatment. This conclusion was driven by the similarities between the mercurian crust and that of the lunar highlands, so that this chapter follows on naturally from those dealing with the Moon. It also provides some interesting problems about primary or secondary crusts. Further, the Messenger mission is already en route to this innermost planet, so that it is useful at this stage to summarize more thoroughly our current understanding.
The geology of Mercury, a one-plate planet like Mars and Venus, shows some similarities with that of the Moon.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Planetary CrustsTheir Composition, Origin and Evolution, pp. 86 - 102Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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