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Volcanism on Mercury

2019; Mineralogical Society of America; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2138/gselements.15.1.27

1811-5217

Rebecca J. Thomas, David A. Rothery,

Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

Research Article| February 01, 2019 Volcanism on Mercury Rebecca J. Thomas; Rebecca J. Thomas Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, 3665 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, USA E-mail: rebecca.thomas@lasp.colorado.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David A. Rothery David A. Rothery Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK E-mail: david.rothery@open.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Rebecca J. Thomas Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, 3665 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, USA David A. Rothery Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK E-mail: rebecca.thomas@lasp.colorado.edu E-mail: david.rothery@open.ac.uk Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America First Online: 11 Feb 2019 Online Issn: 1811-5217 Print Issn: 1811-5209 Copyright © 2019 by the Mineralogical Society of AmericaMineralogical Society of America Elements (2019) 15 (1): 27–32. https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.15.1.27 Article history First Online: 11 Feb 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Rebecca J. Thomas, David A. Rothery; Volcanism on Mercury. Elements 2019;; 15 (1): 27–32. doi: https://doi.org/10.2138/gselements.15.1.27 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Mercury's volcanic nature has been revealed by NASA's MESSENGER mission. We now know that all, or most, of the surface has, at some point, been flooded by lavas, sometimes in extremely voluminous eruptions. The ages of Mercury's lava surfaces reveal that large-volume effusive volcanism ceased about 3.5 billion years ago due to planetary cooling. Mercury's crust then went into a state of global contraction, thereby impeding further magma ascent. However, some smaller-scale volcanism continued at zones of crustal weakness, particularly at impact craters. Much of this later volcanism has been violently explosive, with volatile gases potentially helping the magma rise and ripping it apart when released to the vacuum at the surface. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.