Computer Science
Scientific paper
Apr 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008natge...1..229k&link_type=abstract
Nature Geoscience, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 229-232 (2008).
Computer Science
12
Scientific paper
Mercury is the smallest and least tectonically active of the terrestrial planets. Although Mercury's ancient, cratered surface resembles the Moon, it has the largest ratio of metallic core to silicate mantle among the terrestrial planets as well as an internal magnetic field. Images from the Mariner 10 spacecraft reveal lobate scarps, so called because of their curved or scalloped edges, which have been interpreted to be high-angle thrust faults resulting from a period of global contraction. A range of mechanisms has been invoked to explain the stresses leading to global contraction, including cooling and core formation, tidal effects due to gravitational interactions with the Sun, mantle convection and the impact that formed the Caloris basin. Here I present numerical simulations of the three-dimensional nature of convection within Mercury's silicate mantle. The model yields a regularly spaced pattern of convection, in which upwelling regions of the mantle assume linear, sheet-like shapes at low latitudes and a nearly hexagonal pattern near the poles. The distribution of resultant surface stresses is consistent with the observed pattern of lobate scarps, suggesting that the compressive features record an ancient pattern of mantle convection, in addition to global contraction. The gravity and topographic data returned from the MESSENGER 11 mission will help test this hypothesis.
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