Science Opportunities offered by Mercury’s Ice-Bearing Polar Deposits

Abstract

The presence of meters-thick polar deposits exposed directly on the surface of Mercury provides unique science opportunities that should be prioritized in the next decade of planetary exploration. The poles of Mercury provide a natural laboratory for understanding the chemical, physical, and thermal processes that have governed the supply, retention, modification, and loss of water and other volatiles delivered to the inner solar system through time. Polar deposits on Mercury are composed primarily of water ice, and the additional and coincident presence of organic-rich frozen volatiles exposed on the surface offers a nearby opportunity to study the chemistry of extremely lowtemperature, icy environments applicable to the Moon, asteroids, comets, and icy worlds of the outer solar system. Understanding the processes responsible for the delivery and storage of volatiles on Mercury would greatly enhance our ability to understand the origin and distribution of resources across the inner solar system, including at the lunar poles.