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Science 9 June 1995:
Vol. 268. no. 5216, pp. 1455 - 1457
DOI: 10.1126/science.7770770
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Articles

Science, Vol 268, Issue 5216, 1455-1457
Copyright © 1995 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Evidence for a basalt-free surface on Mercury and implications for internal heat

R Jeanloz, DL Mitchell, AL Sprague, and I de Pater

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.

Microwave and mid-infrared observations reveal that Mercury's surface contains less FeO + TiO2 and at least as much feldspar as the lunar highlands. The results are compatible with the high albedo (brightness) of Mercury's surface at visible wavelengths in suggesting a rock and soil composition that is devoid of basalt, the primary differentiate of terrestrial mantles. The occurrence of a basalt-free, highly differentiated crust is in accord with recent models of the planet's thermal evolution and suggests that Mercury has retained a hot interior as a result of a combination of inefficient mantle convection and minimal volcanic heat loss.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Fluxes of Fast and Epithermal Neutrons from Lunar Prospector: Evidence for Water Ice at the Lunar Poles.
W. C. Feldman, S. Maurice, A. B. Binder, B. L. Barraclough, R. C. Elphic, and D. J. Lawrence (1998)
Science 281, 1496-1500
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