The contribution to Mercury’s exosphere by sputtering, micrometeorite impact and photon-stimulated desorption

Details The contribution to Mercury’s exosphere by sputtering, micrometeorite impact and photon-stimulated desorption The contribution to Mercury’s exosphere by sputtering, micrometeorite impact and photon-stimulated desorption

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p21a1211w&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P21A-1211

Physics

[0300] Atmospheric Composition And Structure, [0328] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Exosphere, [6235] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mercury

Scientific paper

We have extended our Monte-Carlo model of exospheres [Wurz and Lammer, Icarus 164, 2003, 1-13] by treating the ion-induced sputtering process, photon-stimulated desorption, and micro-meteorite impact vaporisation in a self-consistent way. Based on available literature data we established a global model for the surface mineralogy of Mercury and from that derived the average elemental composition of the surface. Our total calculated exospheric density at the hermean surface of about 4e7 m^-3 as a result of solar wind sputtering is much less than the experimental total exospheric density of about 1e12 m^-3. The total calculated exospheric density from micro-meteorite impact vaporisation is about 1.58e8 m^-3. We conclude that sputtering and micro-meteorite impact vaporisation contribute only a small fraction of Mercury’s exosphere, at least close to the surface. Because of the considerably larger scale height of atoms released via sputtering into the exosphere, sputtered atoms start to dominate the exosphere at altitudes exceeding around 1000 km, with the exception of some light and abundant species released thermally, e.g. H2 and He. Because of Mercury’s strong gravitational field not all particles released by sputtering and micro-meteorite impact escape. Over extended time scales this will lead to an alteration of the surface composition.

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