Mineralogical indicators of Mercury's hollows composition in MESSENGER color observations

Early during MErcury Surface Space ENvironment GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER)'s orbital mission, the Mercury Dual‐Imaging System imaged the landform called hollows on the two craters Dominici and Hopper, using its Wide‐Angle Camera with eight narrowband color filters ranging from 433 to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2016-02, Vol.43 (4), p.1450-1456
Main Authors: Vilas, Faith, Domingue, Deborah L., Helbert, Jörn, D'Amore, Mario, Maturilli, Alessandro, Klima, Rachel L., Stockstill‐Cahill, Karen R., Murchie, Scott L., Izenberg, Noam R., Blewett, David T., Vaughan, William M., Head, James W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
Absorption spectra
Aerospace environments
Color
Colour
Composition
Craters
Density
Exposure
Filters
Geochemistry
hollows
Imaging
Imaging techniques
Indicators
Landforms
MDI
Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury surface
Mercury surface composition
MESSENGER
MESSENGER Mission
Mineralogy
Narrowband
Photometry
Reflectance
Slumping
Space environment
Spectra
Spectral absorption
spectral reflectance
Walls
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Early during MErcury Surface Space ENvironment GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER)'s orbital mission, the Mercury Dual‐Imaging System imaged the landform called hollows on the two craters Dominici and Hopper, using its Wide‐Angle Camera with eight narrowband color filters ranging from 433 to 996 nm. An absorption feature centered in the MDIS 629 nm filter is evident in reflectance spectra for Dominici's south wall/rim hollows. A different absorption feature found in photometry of Dominici's center hollows extends through the MDIS 828 nm filter. Hollows in Hopper exhibit a weaker spectral absorption feature than that observed in Dominici's center. At Dominici, we postulate that fresher hollows‐hosting material in the wall/rim was exposed to the space environment through a process of slumping of the overlying material. With time, local and global processes darken the hollows and change or mix the surface mineralogy, so that the spectral signature evolves. The hollows could contain low‐density MgS and an opaque component, potentially derived from background material. Key Points First positive ID of absorption features suggesting mineralogy in MESSENGER surface reflectance photometry First ID of absorption features in Mercury's hollows Variation in absorption features potential key to alteration (space weathering) with age
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1002/2015GL067515