Observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury have transformed our understanding of the origin and evolution of rocky planets. This volume is the definitive resource about Mercury for planetary scientists, from students to senior researchers. Topics treated in depth include Mercury's chemical composition; the structure of its crust, lithosphere, mantle, and core; Mercury's modern and ancient magnetic field; Mercury's geology, including the planet's major geological units and their surface chemistry and mineralogy, its spectral reflectance characteristics, its craters and cratering history, its tectonic features and deformational history, its volcanic features and magmatic history, its distinctive hollows, and the frozen ices in its polar deposits; Mercury's exosphere and magnetosphere and the processes that govern their dynamics and their interaction with the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field; the formation and large-scale evolution of the planet; and current plans and needed capabilities to explore Mercury further in the future.
Observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury have transformed our understanding of the origin and evolution of rocky planets. This volume is the definitive resource about Mercury for planetary scientists, from students to senior researchers. Topics treated in depth include Mercury's chemical composition; the structure of its crust, lithosphere, mantle, and core; Mercury's modern and ancient magnetic field; Mercury's geology, including the planet's major geological units and their surface chemistry and mineralogy, its spectral reflectance characteristics, its craters and cratering history, its tectonic features and deformational history, its volcanic features and magmatic history, its distinctive hollows, and the frozen ices in its polar deposits; Mercury's exosphere and magnetosphere and the processes that govern their dynamics and their interaction with the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field; the formation and large-scale evolution of the planet; and current plans and needed capabilities to explore Mercury further in the future.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. The MESSENGER mission: science and implementation overview Sean C. Solomon and Brian J. Anderson; 2. The chemical composition of Mercury Larry R. Nittler, Nancy L. Chabot, Timothy L. Grove and Patrick N. Peplowski; 3. Mercury's crust and lithosphere: structure and mechanics Roger J. Phillips, Paul K. Byrne, Peter B. James, Erwan Mazarico, Gregory A. Neumann and Mark E. Perry; 4. Mercury's internal structure Jean-Luc Margot, Steven A. Hauck, II, Erwan Mazarico, Sebastiano Padovan and Stanton J. Peale; 5. Mercury's internal magnetic field Catherine L. Johnson, Brian J. Anderson, Haje Korth, Roger J. Phillips and Lydia C. Philpott; 6. The geologic history of Mercury Brett W. Denevi, Carolyn M. Ernst, Louise M. Prockter and Mark S. Robinson; 7. The geochemical and mineralogical diversity of Mercury Timothy J. McCoy, Patrick N. Peplowski, Francis M. McCubbin and Shoshana Z. Weider; 8. Spectral reflectance constraints on the composition and evolution of Mercury's surface Scott L. Murchie, Rachel L. Klima, Noam R. Izenberg, Deborah L. Domingue, David T. Blewett and Jörn Helbert; 9. Impact cratering of Mercury Clark R. Chapman, David M. H. Baker, Olivier S. Barnouin, Caleb I. Fassett, Simone Marchi, William J. Merline, Lillian R. Ostrach, Louise M. Prockter and Robert G. Strom; 10. The tectonic character of Mercury Paul K. Byrne, Christian Klimczak and A. M. Celâl Sengör; 11. The volcanic character of Mercury Paul K. Byrne, Jennifer L. Whitten, Christian Klimczak, Francis M. McCubbin and Lillian R. Ostrach; 12. Mercury's hollows David T. Blewett, Carolyn M. Ernst, Scott L. Murchie and Faith Vilas; 13. Mercury's polar deposits Nancy L. Chabot, David J. Lawrence, Gregory A. Neumann, William C. Feldman and David A. Paige; 14. Observations of Mercury's exosphere: composition and structure William E. McClintock, Timothy A. Cassidy, Aimee W. Merkel, Rosemary M. Killen, Matthew H. Burger and Ronald J. Vervack, Jr; 15. Understanding Mercury's exosphere: models derived from MESSENGER observations Rosemary M. Killen, Matthew H. Burger, Ronald J. Vervack, Jr, and Timothy A. Cassidy; 16. Structure and configuration of Mercury's magnetosphere Haje Korth, Brian J. Anderson, Catherine L. Johnson, James A. Slavin, Jim M. Raines and Thomas H. Zurbuchen; 17. Mercury's dynamic magnetosphere James A. Slavin, Daniel N. Baker, Daniel J. Gershman, George C. Ho, Suzanne M. Imber, Stamatios M. Krimigis and Torbjörn Sundberg; 18. The elusive origin of Mercury Denton S. Ebel and Sarah T. Stewart; 19. Mercury's global evolution Steven A. Hauck, II, Matthias Grott, Paul K. Byrne, Brett W. Denevi, Sabine Stanley and Timothy J. McCoy; 20. Future missions: Mercury after MESSENGER Ralph L. McNutt, Jr, Johannes Benkhoff, Masaki Fujimoto and Brian J. Anderson.
