The influence of spin-orbit resonances on the evolution of Mercury's mantle and crust

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11320%2F25%3A10508360" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11320/25:10508360 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=fISP_KeCtw" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=fISP_KeCtw</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116630" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116630</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

The influence of spin-orbit resonances on the evolution of Mercury's mantle and crust

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Mercury&apos;s record of large impact basins and spin evolution models suggest that its present-day 3:2 spin-orbit resonance may not be primordial. It could have been established up to hundreds of millions of years after planet formation, possibly triggered by the impact that created the Caloris basin about 3.7 billion years ago. Before this, Mercury may have been in a synchronous rotation or a 2:1 resonance, which would have induced strong hemispheric surface temperature variations, influencing the thermal structure of the lithosphere and mantle. Using 3D thermochemical mantle convection models, we simulate Mercury&apos;s mantle evolution and volcanic crust formation over one billion years, incorporating surface temperature distributions from different spin-orbit resonances. We assess whether these variations can generate large-scale lateral differences in crustal thickness, as inferred from gravity, topography and surface composition data, and compare predicted radius changes due to mantle and core cooling with existing estimates from compressional tectonic features. Crustal thickness, interior cooling rate, and radius change are primarily controlled by internal heat production, with models using intermediate to high heat production rates (characteristic of CI and EH chondrites) best matching observations. The mantle reference viscosity, low thermal conductivity attained at Mercury&apos;s mantle conditions, and cooling due to melt extraction exert first-order controls on the timing of crust emplacement and its final extent. Regardless of surface temperature patterns, mantle convection is dominated by small, stable cells. While surface temperature variations influence the location of hot and cold regions at large scales, they do not alter the spatial scale of convection. Assuming vertical melt extraction, crustal thickness locally follows the convection pattern. The present-day 3:2 resonance does not induce significant large-scale variations in crustal thickness, but a past synchronous rotation could have produced hemispheric differences, with crust up to 10-15 km thicker on the dayside. Similarly, radial contraction is hemispherical, with the hot hemisphere contracting less and at a slower rate than the cold one as long as the resonance persists. The surface record does not clearly support these hemispheric patterns. This suggests that past spin-orbit resonances may have been short lived, or that they may have affected Mercury&apos;s interior more subtly than our models predict, or that subsequent geological processes erased or modified early large-scale asymmetries. Future high-resolution imaging and surface composition data from BepiColombo, particularly of Mercury&apos;s poorly-mapped southern hemisphere, will be critical in testing this hypothesis and in refining the available constraints on the planet&apos;s crustal evolution and tectonic history.

Název v anglickém jazyce

The influence of spin-orbit resonances on the evolution of Mercury's mantle and crust

Popis výsledku anglicky

Mercury&apos;s record of large impact basins and spin evolution models suggest that its present-day 3:2 spin-orbit resonance may not be primordial. It could have been established up to hundreds of millions of years after planet formation, possibly triggered by the impact that created the Caloris basin about 3.7 billion years ago. Before this, Mercury may have been in a synchronous rotation or a 2:1 resonance, which would have induced strong hemispheric surface temperature variations, influencing the thermal structure of the lithosphere and mantle. Using 3D thermochemical mantle convection models, we simulate Mercury&apos;s mantle evolution and volcanic crust formation over one billion years, incorporating surface temperature distributions from different spin-orbit resonances. We assess whether these variations can generate large-scale lateral differences in crustal thickness, as inferred from gravity, topography and surface composition data, and compare predicted radius changes due to mantle and core cooling with existing estimates from compressional tectonic features. Crustal thickness, interior cooling rate, and radius change are primarily controlled by internal heat production, with models using intermediate to high heat production rates (characteristic of CI and EH chondrites) best matching observations. The mantle reference viscosity, low thermal conductivity attained at Mercury&apos;s mantle conditions, and cooling due to melt extraction exert first-order controls on the timing of crust emplacement and its final extent. Regardless of surface temperature patterns, mantle convection is dominated by small, stable cells. While surface temperature variations influence the location of hot and cold regions at large scales, they do not alter the spatial scale of convection. Assuming vertical melt extraction, crustal thickness locally follows the convection pattern. The present-day 3:2 resonance does not induce significant large-scale variations in crustal thickness, but a past synchronous rotation could have produced hemispheric differences, with crust up to 10-15 km thicker on the dayside. Similarly, radial contraction is hemispherical, with the hot hemisphere contracting less and at a slower rate than the cold one as long as the resonance persists. The surface record does not clearly support these hemispheric patterns. This suggests that past spin-orbit resonances may have been short lived, or that they may have affected Mercury&apos;s interior more subtly than our models predict, or that subsequent geological processes erased or modified early large-scale asymmetries. Future high-resolution imaging and surface composition data from BepiColombo, particularly of Mercury&apos;s poorly-mapped southern hemisphere, will be critical in testing this hypothesis and in refining the available constraints on the planet&apos;s crustal evolution and tectonic history.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10500 - Earth and related environmental sciences

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2025

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Icarus

ISSN

0019-1035

e-ISSN

1090-2643

Svazek periodika

439

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

April

Stát vydavatele periodika

US - Spojené státy americké

Počet stran výsledku

24

Strana od-do

116630

Kód UT WoS článku

001500537300001

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-105005869221