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Science 4 July 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5885, pp. 73 - 76
DOI: 10.1126/science.1159261
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Reports

Geology of the Caloris Basin, Mercury: A View from MESSENGER

Scott L. Murchie,1 Thomas R. Watters,2 Mark S. Robinson,3 James W. Head,4 Robert G. Strom,5 Clark R. Chapman,6 Sean C. Solomon,7 William E. McClintock,8 Louise M. Prockter,1 Deborah L. Domingue,1 David T. Blewett1

The Caloris basin, the youngest known large impact basin on Mercury, is revealed in MESSENGER images to be modified by volcanism and deformation in a manner distinct from that of lunar impact basins. The morphology and spatial distribution of basin materials themselves closely match lunar counterparts. Evidence for a volcanic origin of the basin's interior plains includes embayed craters on the basin floor and diffuse deposits surrounding rimless depressions interpreted to be of pyroclastic origin. Unlike lunar maria, the volcanic plains in Caloris are higher in albedo than surrounding basin materials and lack spectral evidence for ferrous iron-bearing silicates. Tectonic landforms, contractional wrinkle ridges and extensional troughs, have distributions and age relations different from their counterparts in and around lunar basins, indicating a different stress history.

1 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
2 Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
3 Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85251, USA.
4 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02906, USA.
5 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
6 Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO80302, USA.
7 Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20650, USA.
8 Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Evolution of Mercury's Crust: A Global Perspective from MESSENGER.
B. W. Denevi, M. S. Robinson, S. C. Solomon, S. L. Murchie, D. T. Blewett, D. L. Domingue, T. J. McCoy, C. M. Ernst, J. W. Head, T. R. Watters, et al. (2009)
Science 324, 613-618
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution of the Rembrandt Impact Basin on Mercury.
T. R. Watters, J. W. Head, S. C. Solomon, M. S. Robinson, C. R. Chapman, B. W. Denevi, C. I. Fassett, S. L. Murchie, and R. G. Strom (2009)
Science 324, 618-621
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Return to Mercury: A Global Perspective on MESSENGER's First Mercury Flyby.
S. C. Solomon, R. L. McNutt Jr., T. R. Watters, D. J. Lawrence, W. C. Feldman, J. W. Head, S. M. Krimigis, S. L. Murchie, R. J. Phillips, J. A. Slavin, et al. (2008)
Science 321, 59-62
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reflectance and Color Variations on Mercury: Regolith Processes and Compositional Heterogeneity.
M. S. Robinson, S. L. Murchie, D. T. Blewett, D. L. Domingue, S. E. Hawkins III, J. W. Head, G. M. Holsclaw, W. E. McClintock, T. J. McCoy, R. L. McNutt Jr., et al. (2008)
Science 321, 66-69
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Volcanism on Mercury: Evidence from the First MESSENGER Flyby.
J. W. Head, S. L. Murchie, L. M. Prockter, M. S. Robinson, S. C. Solomon, R. G. Strom, C. R. Chapman, T. R. Watters, W. E. McClintock, D. T. Blewett, et al. (2008)
Science 321, 69-72
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mercury Cratering Record Viewed from MESSENGER's First Flyby.
R. G. Strom, C. R. Chapman, W. J. Merline, S. C. Solomon, and J. W. Head III (2008)
Science 321, 79-81
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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