Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1782373 Planetary and Space Science 2009 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

Among the terrestrial planets, Mercury's composition is characterized by two specific features: a high density and a low surface FeO content. Based on these two constraints, different geochemical models have been proposed, according to different formation scenarios. Here thermodynamical modeling is used to derive the mantle and crust mineralogy associated with these geochemical models. For each mineralogy, the electrical conductivity profile and associated electromagnetic data are computed. Due to the very different oxide/silicate ratios, most geochemical models proposed for Mercury's formation show very different electromagnetic signatures. As a result, future measurements with MESSENGER and BepiColombo missions will help differentiating between different interior models and different formation scenarios.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Geophysics
Authors
, , , , ,