Physics
Scientific paper
Feb 2012
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012jgre..11702007r&link_type=abstract
Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 117, Issue E2, CiteID E02007
Physics
Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Impact Phenomena, Cratering (6022, 8136), Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Interiors (8147), Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Volcanism (6063, 8148, 8450), Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Mercury, Tectonophysics: Dynamics Of Lithosphere And Mantle: General (1213)
Scientific paper
The MESSENGER spacecraft has imaged more than 95% of the surface of Mercury. Images of the Caloris impact basins, along with several smaller impact structures, reveal evidence for volcanic plains within and exterior to the basin that are younger than the basin rim and might be associated with the long-term aftermath of Caloris's formation. The broad influence of Caloris on the surface of Mercury indicates that it might also affect heat flow within the mantle and thereby the core dynamics. Here we investigate possible links between the Caloris impact on Mercury, thermochemical evolution of the mantle, and the volcanism within and surrounding the basins. A finite element model of thermochemical convection in a spherical shell is used to explore the consequences of the formation of large impacts in the Mercurian mantle. While the impact cannot have formed the younger melts directly, the thermal impulse from such a large impact can alter the underlying mantle dynamics, producing subsequent volcanism far from the impact site. We further find that despite the relatively thin Mercurian mantle, the expected heating from the Caloris impact cannot penetrate to the core and should thus have minimal effects on a dynamo. This is largely due to the high expected velocity of impactors at Mercury and thus relatively small size of the Caloris-forming impactor.
Barnouin Olivier S.
Roberts James Hirsch
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