Mercury Surface Silicon Dioxide at 37 Percent Points to Deeper Mantle Melting
Laboratory-calibrated infrared measurements revise Mercury's surface SiO2 downward to 37 percent, indicating deeper, hotter mantle melting or later oxygen loss. The result tightens models of the planet's early thermal history and its divergence from Earth. BepiColombo data expected in the late 2020s can test these predictions.
The finding refines interpretations of MESSENGER X-ray and gamma-ray data and supplies tighter constraints for future thermochemical evolution simulations. It also highlights how laboratory analog work can resolve remote-sensing ambiguities that have persisted since the 2010s.
Renggli team: BepiColombo MIXS spectrometer will report average surface SiO2 below 40 percent within 18 months of orbital operations starting 2027.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/planetary-research)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html)
- [3]Supporting Source(https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo)