Volcanology Targets for Future Exploration at Mercury

Rothery, David; Man, Ben; Malliband, Chris; Pegg, David and Wright, Jack (2021). Volcanology Targets for Future Exploration at Mercury. In: Annual Meeting of the Mercury Exploration Assessment Group (MExAG), 3-5 Feb 2021, Virtual.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5092757

Abstract

Most of Mercury's surface is volcanic. Plains were emplaced effusively. Explosive volcanism punctured both plains and crater floors, evidencing Mercury's volatile richness. Until the compositions of more than just the largest single explosive deposit have been measured we remain unsure what the volatiles are. The best-imaged and geochemically best-characterized examples make us anxious to learn more from the anticipated fuller documentation when BepiColombo starts its orbital science at Mercury in 2026.
Here we illustrate some of the types of feature where higher imaging resolution of a greater number of cases will be particularly valuable, especially when coupled with BepiColombo's enhanced elemental and geochemical mapping capabilities.

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