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2017•Open Research Online (The Open University)Requires access

Volcanic shields on Mercury identified at last

Jack Wright, David A. Rothery, M. R. Balme, Susan J. Conway

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Abstract

Small (<50 km across) shield volcanoes are known on Earth, the Moon, Mars and Venus, but previous identifications of these features on Mercury have been reevaluated. Until now, only low-lying volcanic craters formed by putative explosive eruptions have been positively identified on Mercury. We have found two new candidate small shields at the edges of impact basins using orbital data from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. We introduce the better-evidenced candidate here.

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Small (<50 km across) shield volcanoes are known on Earth, the Moon, Mars and Venus, but previous identifications of these features on Mercury have been reevaluated. Until now, only low-lying volcanic craters formed by putative explosive eruptions have been positively identified on Mercury. We have found two new candidate small shields at the edges of impact basins using orbital data from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. We introduce the better-evidenced candidate here.

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Available abstract

Small (<50 km across) shield volcanoes are known on Earth, the Moon, Mars and Venus, but previous identifications of these features on Mercury have been reevaluated. Until now, only low-lying volcanic craters formed by putative explosive eruptions have been positively identified on Mercury. We have found two new candidate small shields at the edges of impact basins using orbital data from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. We introduce the better-evidenced candidate here.

Key concepts: Volcano, Lava, Geology, Mercury (programming language), Shield volcano, Basalt, Astrobiology, Shield

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