Nonhydrostatic stresses in the silicate mantle of Mercury

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Mercury (Planet), Planetary Mantles, Shear Stress, Silicates, Planetary Cores, Planetary Evolution, Planetary Rotation

Scientific paper

This letter shows that Mercury deviates markedly from a state of hydrostatic equilibrium and that large shear stresses proportional to the excess quadrupole moment should be present in the planet's interior. The magnitude of these stresses is estimated by assuming that Mercury consists of a liquid core with a given mean density and radius plus a silicate mantle with a different mean density. The maximum shear stresses at the core-mantle interface are found to be 70 + or - 50 bar. This result is compared with the stresses for a homogeneous planet, and an upper limit of 3.6 (+3.6, -0.9) days is placed on Mercury's rotation period in the epoch when the planet's silicate mantle cooled and hardened.

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