Volcanic shields on Mercury identified at last?

Wright, J.; Rothery, D. A.; Balme, M. R. and Conway, S. J. (2017). Volcanic shields on Mercury identified at last? In: 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 20-24 Mar 2017, The Woodlands, Houston, Texas.

URL: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2017/pdf/187...

Abstract

Small (<50 km) basaltic shield volcanoes are known on Earth, the Moon, Mars and Venus, but have not hitherto been positively identified on Mercury. A candidate on Mercury suggested but was subsequently shown not to be a constructional edifice and instead to be a compound volcanic vent that had acted as a source only for explosive volcanic eruptions. Here we introduce a good candidate for a small basaltic shield on Mercury, and a somewhat less convincing second candidate. Both are less than 10 km in diameter, and are situated towards the edges of lava-flooded impact basins, where one might expect to find volcanic structures.

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