Extent, age, and resurfacing history of the northern smooth plains on Mercury from MESSENGER observations

Ostrach, L. R.; Robinson, M. S.; Whitten, J. L.; Fassett, C. I.; Strom, R. G.; Head, J. W.; Solomon, Sean C.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.11.010

Cited by 67 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 84 publications

(201 reference statements)

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“…Recently their volcanic nature was confirmed due to evidence of flow and sharp colour contrasts with adjacent units (Denevi et al, 2013). In the north polar region of Mercury, SP are known as the 'Northern smooth plains' (SPn, Denevi et al, 2013;Ostrach et al, 2015); inside the H02 quadrangle most of the mapped SP pertain to this unit ( Figure 6). Several authors believe SP belong to the Calorian period estimating an age of 3.7-3.9 Ga based on crater density distribution (Denevi et al, 2013;Fassett et al, 2009;Head et al, 2011;Ostrach, Robinson, Denevi, & Thomas, 2011;Strom, Chapman, Merline, Solomon, & Head, 2008, 2011.…”

Section: Smooth Plainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the left: time-stratigraphic system for Mercury modified from van Gasselt and Neukum (2011), the dashes inside the solid colours indicate approximate boundaries between periods. The dashed grey lines correlate the map units to the Mercurian periods, based on the estimated ages of SPn, IMP and ICP in literature (Marchi et al, 2013;Neukum, Oberst, Hoffmann, Wagner, & Ivanov, 2001;Ostrach et al, 2015;Whitten et al, 2014) and on the observed relationships. Question marks indicate unclear time relationships between units.…”

Section: Correlation Of Main Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

et al. 2016

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Mercury's quadrangle H02 'Victoria' is located in the planet's northern hemisphere and lies between latitudes 22.5°N and 65°N, and between longitudes 270°E and 360°E. This quadrangle covers 6.5% of the planet's surface with a total area of almost 5 million km 2 . Our 1:3,000,000-scale geologic map of the quadrangle was produced by photo-interpretation of remotely sensed orbital images captured by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Geologic contacts were drawn between 1:300,000 and 1:600,000 mapping scale and constitute the boundaries of intercrater, intermediate and smooth plains units; in addition, three morpho-stratigraphic classes of craters larger than 20 km were mapped. The geologic map reveals that this area is dominated by Intercrater Plains encompassing some almost-coeval, probably younger, Intermediate Plains patches and interrupted to the north-west, north-east and east by the Calorian Northern Smooth Plains. This map represents the first complete geologic survey of the Victoria quadrangle at this scale, and an improvement of the existing 1:5,000,000 Mariner 10-based map, which covers only 36% of the quadrangle. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Smooth Plainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Correlation Of Main Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

et al. 2016

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“…SP are generally darker and less deformed than CSP (Figure 4(b)). Ostrach et al (2015) estimated the thickness of the northern SP to range between ∼0.7 and ∼1.8 km. Locally (e.g.…”

Section: Geologic Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in this case, the minimum age limit is set to 3.69 Ga by Ostrach et al (2015), if the same production function as used in this work (i. e. ) is considered. The size of the hollow clusters found in the mapped area (e.g.…”

Section: Correlation Of Map Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Volcanic contribution to the geologic scenario found in the H04 quadrangle is significant. In fact, based on morphological and compositional evidence, the majority of the Smooth Plains found in the quadrangle are volcanic in origin, including deposits found in the northern portion of the quadrangle Byrne et al, 2013;Denevi et al, 2013;Ostrach et al, 2015;Weider et al, 2015) and filling the Caloris basin Weider et al, 2015). Moreover, the Smooth Plains found inside Caloris show distinctive composition with respect to the northern volcanic deposits (Weider et al, 2015).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geology of the Raditladi quadrangle, Mercury (H04)

et al. 2016

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In this work, we present a 1:3,000,000-scale geologic map of the Raditladi quadrangle (H04) of Mercury. The area covers nearly 7% of the entire planet and encompasses several features of interest such as the Caloris basin, the Raditladi basin, hollow clusters and volcanic features. The mapping took advantage of the data produced during MESSENGER's orbital phase. The mapped deposits include impact-related units observed at several scales from the Caloris basin to the secondary crater chains. The Smooth Plains unit covers the majority of the area, mantling the older Intercrater Plains and Bright Intercrater Plains units. Results show that the emplacement of all the main units and the Caloris impact event, representing the main geologic events in the quadrangle, were concentrated between 3.96 and 3.72 Ga. After this intense phase, the geologic framework was modified only by local events such as impact craters and hollow formation. This map is among the first products for the detailed geologic characterization of Mercury at such a scale. It will contribute as a constraint and a support for both further local investigation and mapping, and targeting of the forthcoming BepiColombo ESA/JAXA joint exploration mission to Mercury. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Rheology of lava flows on Mercury: An analog experimental study

Sehlke

Whittington

2015

JGR Planets

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We experimentally determined the rheological evolution of three basaltic analog compositions appropriate to Mercury's surface, during cooling, and crystallization. Investigated compositions are an enstatite basalt, and two magnesian basalts representing the compositional end‐members of the northern volcanic plains with 0.19 wt % (NVP) and 6.26 wt % Na2O (NVP‐Na). The viscosity‐strain rate dependence of lava was quantified using concentric cylinder viscometry. We measured the viscosities of the crystal‐free liquids from 1600°C down to the first detection of crystals. Liquidus temperatures of the three compositions studied are around 1360°C, and all three compositions are more viscous than Hawaiian basalt at the same temperature. The onset of pseudoplastic behavior was observed at crystal fractions ~0.05 to 0.10, which is consistent with previous studies on mafic lavas. We show that all lavas develop detectable yield strengths at crystal fractions around 0.20, beyond which the two‐phase suspensions are better described as Herschel‐Bulkley fluids. By analogy with the viscosity‐strain rate conditions at which the pahoehoe to `a`a transition occurs in Kilauea basalt, this transition is predicted to occur at ~1260 ± 10°C for the enstatite basalt, at ~1285 ± 20°C for the NVP, and at ~1240 ± 40°C for the NVP‐Na lavas. Our results indicate that Mercury lavas are broadly similar to terrestrial ones, which suggests that the extensive smooth lava plains of Mercury could be due to large effusion rates (flood basalts) and not to unusually fluid lavas.

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Extent, age, and resurfacing history of the northern smooth plains on Mercury from MESSENGER observations

Cited by 67 publications

References 84 publications

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

Geology of the Victoria quadrangle (H02), Mercury

Geology of the Raditladi quadrangle, Mercury (H04)

Rheology of lava flows on Mercury: An analog experimental study

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