Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles
Wet Mercury Radar observations of Mercury's poles in the 1990s revealed regions of high backscatter that were interpreted as indicative of thick deposits of water ice; however, other explanations have also been proposed (see the Perspective by Lucey ). MESSENGER neutron data reported by Lawrenc...
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craaas:10.1126/science.1229764 2024-09-30T14:39:57+00:00 Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles Neumann, Gregory A. Cavanaugh, John F. Sun, Xiaoli Mazarico, Erwan M. Smith, David E. Zuber, Maria T. Mao, Dandan Paige, David A. Solomon, Sean C. Ernst, Carolyn M. Barnouin, Olivier S. 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1229764 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1229764 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 339, issue 6117, page 296-300 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 2013 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1229764 2024-09-12T04:00:24Z Wet Mercury Radar observations of Mercury's poles in the 1990s revealed regions of high backscatter that were interpreted as indicative of thick deposits of water ice; however, other explanations have also been proposed (see the Perspective by Lucey ). MESSENGER neutron data reported by Lawrence et al. (p. 292 , published online 29 November) in conjunction with thermal modeling by Paige et al. (p. 300 , published online 29 November) now confirm that the primary component of radar-reflective material at Mercury's north pole is water ice. Neumann et al. (p. 296 , published online 29 November) analyzed surface reflectance measurements from the Mercury Laser Altimeter onboard MESSENGER and found that while some areas of high radar backscatter coincide with optically bright regions, consistent with water ice exposed at the surface, some radar-reflective areas correlate with optically dark regions, indicative of organic sublimation lag deposits overlying the ice. Dark areas that fall outside regions of high radio backscatter suggest that water ice was once more widespread. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Pole AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) North Pole Paige ENVELOPE(-144.700,-144.700,-76.333,-76.333) Science 339 6117 296 300 |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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English |
description |
Wet Mercury Radar observations of Mercury's poles in the 1990s revealed regions of high backscatter that were interpreted as indicative of thick deposits of water ice; however, other explanations have also been proposed (see the Perspective by Lucey ). MESSENGER neutron data reported by Lawrence et al. (p. 292 , published online 29 November) in conjunction with thermal modeling by Paige et al. (p. 300 , published online 29 November) now confirm that the primary component of radar-reflective material at Mercury's north pole is water ice. Neumann et al. (p. 296 , published online 29 November) analyzed surface reflectance measurements from the Mercury Laser Altimeter onboard MESSENGER and found that while some areas of high radar backscatter coincide with optically bright regions, consistent with water ice exposed at the surface, some radar-reflective areas correlate with optically dark regions, indicative of organic sublimation lag deposits overlying the ice. Dark areas that fall outside regions of high radio backscatter suggest that water ice was once more widespread. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Neumann, Gregory A. Cavanaugh, John F. Sun, Xiaoli Mazarico, Erwan M. Smith, David E. Zuber, Maria T. Mao, Dandan Paige, David A. Solomon, Sean C. Ernst, Carolyn M. Barnouin, Olivier S. |
spellingShingle |
Neumann, Gregory A. Cavanaugh, John F. Sun, Xiaoli Mazarico, Erwan M. Smith, David E. Zuber, Maria T. Mao, Dandan Paige, David A. Solomon, Sean C. Ernst, Carolyn M. Barnouin, Olivier S. Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles |
author_facet |
Neumann, Gregory A. Cavanaugh, John F. Sun, Xiaoli Mazarico, Erwan M. Smith, David E. Zuber, Maria T. Mao, Dandan Paige, David A. Solomon, Sean C. Ernst, Carolyn M. Barnouin, Olivier S. |
author_sort |
Neumann, Gregory A. |
title |
Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles |
title_short |
Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles |
title_full |
Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles |
title_fullStr |
Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bright and Dark Polar Deposits on Mercury: Evidence for Surface Volatiles |
title_sort |
bright and dark polar deposits on mercury: evidence for surface volatiles |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1229764 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1229764 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-144.700,-144.700,-76.333,-76.333) |
geographic |
North Pole Paige |
geographic_facet |
North Pole Paige |
genre |
North Pole |
genre_facet |
North Pole |
op_source |
Science volume 339, issue 6117, page 296-300 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1229764 |
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Science |
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339 |
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6117 |
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296 |
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300 |
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1811642514818465792 |