Wright, Jack; Rothery, David A.; Balme, Matthew R. and Conway, Susan J.
(2018).
Constructional Volcanic Edifices on Mercury: Candidates and Hypotheses of Formation.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 123(4) pp. 952–971.
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Abstract
Mercury, a planet with a predominantly volcanic crust, has perplexingly few, if any, constructional volcanic edifices, despite their common occurrence on other solar system bodies with volcanic histories. Using image and topographical data from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft, we describe two small (< 15 km‐diameter) prominences with shallow summit depressions associated with volcanically flooded impact features. We offer both volcanic and impact‐related interpretations for their formation, and then compare these landforms with volcanic features on Earth and the Moon. Though we cannot definitively conclude that these landforms are volcanic, the paucity of constructional volcanic edifices on Mercury is intriguing in itself. We suggest that this lack is because volcanic eruptions with sufficiently low eruption volumes, rates, and flow lengths, suitable for edifice construction, were highly spatiotemporally restricted during Mercury's geological history. We suggest that volcanic edifices may preferentially occur in association with late‐stage, post‐impact effusive volcanic deposits. The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury will be able to investigate further our candidate volcanic edifices, search for other, as‐yet unrecognized edifices beneath the detection limits of MESSENGER data, and test our hypothesis that edifice construction is favored by late‐stage, low‐volume effusive eruptions.
| Item Type: |
Journal Item
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| Copyright Holders: |
2018 American Geophysical Union |
| ISSN: |
1934-8843 |
| Project Funding Details: |
| Funded Project Name | Project ID | Funding Body |
|---|
| Geological mapping of Mercury | ST/N50421X/1 | STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council) | | Not Set | Not Set | British Society for Geomorphology | | Not Set | Not Set | UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society | | Not Set | Not Set | UK Space Agency (UKSA) | | Not Set | ST/M002101/1 | STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council) | | Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the Open University | ST/L000776/1 | STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council) | | Not Set | ST/N00399X/1 | STFC (Science & Technology Facilities Council) |
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| Keywords: |
Mercury; volcano; volcanism; edifice; tectonism; impacts |
| Academic Unit/School: |
Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Physical Sciences
Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) |
| Item ID: |
54081 |
| SWORD Depositor: |
Jisc Publications-Router
|
| Depositing User: |
Jisc Publications-Router
|
| Date Deposited: |
03 Apr 2018 13:18 |
| Last Modified: |
25 Jun 2019 17:25 |
| URI: |
http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/54081 |
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