Issue Date
2002-01-01Keywords
Mercuryanalog
spectral
spectrometry
ferrous iron
space weathering
lunar surface
Clementine UVVIS
anorthosites
plagioclase feldspar
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Blewett, D. T., Hawke, B. R., & Lucey, P. G. (2002). Lunar pure anorthosite as a spectral analog for Mercury. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 37(9), 1245-1254.Publisher
The Meteoritical SocietyJournal
Meteoritics & Planetary ScienceAdditional Links
https://meteoritical.org/Abstract
Plans are underway for spacecraft missions to the planet Mercury beginning in the latter part of this decade (NASA's MESSENGER and ESA's BepiColombo). Mercury is an airless body whose surface is apparently very low in ferrous iron. Much of the mercurian surface material is expected to be optically mature, a state produced by the "space weathering" process from direct exposure to the space environment. If appropriate analog terrains can be identified on the Moon, then study of their reflectance spectra and composition will improve our understanding of space weathering of low-Fe surfaces and aid in the interpretation of data returned from Mercury by the spacecraft. We have conducted a search for areas of the lunar surface that are optically mature and have very low ferrous iron content using Clementine UVVIS image products. Several regions with these properties have been identified on the farside. These areas, representing mature pure anorthosites (90% plagioclase feldspar), are of interest because only relatively immature pure anorthosites have previously been studied with Earth-based spectrometry. A comparison of Mercury with the lunar analogs reveals similarities in spectral characteristics, and there are hints that the mercurian surface may be even lower in FeO content than the lunar pure anorthosites. We also investigate the potential for use of spectral features other than the commonly studied "1 micrometer" mafic mineral absorption band as tools for compositional assessment when spacecraft spectral measurements of Mercury become available. Most low-Fe minerals plausibly present on Mercury lack absorption bands, but plagioclase possesses an iron-impurity absorption at 1.25 micrometers. Detection of this diagnostic band may be possible in fresh crater deposits.Type
Articletext
Language
enISSN
1945-5100ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1111/j.1945-5100.2002.tb00893.x