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Writing and Designing a Chapter on Mercury and Pluto for the Textbook Exploring the Planets (Explanet.Info) Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2018-11-01 Writing and Designing a Chapter on Mercury and Pluto for the Textbook Exploring the Planets (explanet.info) Braxton Clark Spilker Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Spilker, Braxton Clark, "Writing and Designing a Chapter on Mercury and Pluto for the Textbook Exploring the Planets (explanet.info)" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 8123. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/8123 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Writing and Designing a Chapter on Mercury and Pluto for the Textbook Exploring the Planets (explanet.info) Braxton Clark Spilker A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Eric H Christiansen, Chair Jani Radebaugh Bart J. Kowallis Department of Geological Sciences Brigham Young University Copyright © 2019 Braxton Clark Spilker All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Writing and Designing a Chapter on Mercury and Pluto for the Textbook Exploring the Planets (explanet.info) Braxton Clark Spilker Department of Geological Sciences, BYU Master of Science Exploring the Planets (http://explanet.info) is a free online college textbook covering the basic concepts of planetary science emphasizing the character and evolution of the planetary bodies in the Solar System. The latest edition (3rd edition) was published online in 2007 by Eric H Christiansen. Since the release of the third edition, two important planetary missions have been completed: MESSENGER (to Mercury) and New Horizons (to Pluto). These missions provided new information and fundamental insights into these planetary bodies, which have not yet been included in Exploring the Planets. The modern results based on recent investigations of Mercury and Pluto are critical for our understanding of the nature and history of these bodies and the Solar System and build upon the previous information on Mercury and Pluto gained from Mariner 10 (1974-1975) and the Hubble Space Telescope, respectively. These two planetary bodies are end members in a spectrum of objects in the Solar System. Mercury is small, hot, dense, and a silicate metal rich end member of the planets, helping scientists understand the thermal and accretionary evolution of the terrestrial planets. Pluto is cold, icy, distant from the Sun, and a representative object of the vast Kuiper Belt, and is thus another end member among planetary bodies. These two bodies refine models of how different planets will evolve over time, and how our Solar System has evolved. For these reasons, it is important to update Exploring the Planets to summarize the current understanding of the geology of Mercury and Pluto. This way, students can better understand their formation and evolution and the implications for the evolution of our Solar System. Keywords: Mercury, Pluto, planetary geology, Exploring the Planets ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Eric H Christiansen for giving me the opportunity to work on this book, and the countless hours he has spent instructing, reviewing my work, and making my thesis the best it can be. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Jani Radebaugh and Dr. Bart J. Kowallis, for their helpful comments and suggestions. My parents, Kim and Brian Spilker also deserve my thanks, for supporting me in my graduate work. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................. viii INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 5. Mercury ................................................................................................................................................ 4 5.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 4 5.1 Major Concepts .................................................................................................................................................... 5 5.2 The Planet Mercury ............................................................................................................................................. 6 5.3 Major Geologic Provinces ................................................................................................................................... 7 5.3.1 Cratered Plains .............................................................................................................................................. 8 5.3.2 Caloris Basin ................................................................................................................................................. 8 5.3.3 Smooth Plains ............................................................................................................................................. 10 5.4 Impact Craters and Basins ................................................................................................................................. 10 5.4.1 Province Ages ............................................................................................................................................. 11 5.4.2 Impact Cratering: Moon Versus Mercury ................................................................................................... 12 5.4.3 Impact Basins on Mercury .......................................................................................................................... 13 5.4.4 Crater Degradation ...................................................................................................................................... 14 5.5 Magmatism on Mercury .................................................................................................................................... 15 5.5.1 Formation of Magma on Mercury ............................................................................................................... 15 5.5.2 Types of Magmatism .................................................................................................................................. 16 5.5.2.1 Effusive Volcanism ............................................................................................................................. 16 5.5.2.2 Pyroclastic Volcanism ......................................................................................................................... 18 5.5.2.3 Intrusive Magmatism ........................................................................................................................... 22 5.6 Tectonic Features ............................................................................................................................................... 23 5.6.1 Contractional Faults .................................................................................................................................... 23 5.6.2 Extensional Faults ....................................................................................................................................... 25 5.6.3 Tectonic History ......................................................................................................................................... 27 iv 5.7 Volatiles ............................................................................................................................................................. 27 5.7.1 Extrinsic Volatiles ...................................................................................................................................... 28 5.7.2 Intrinsic Volatiles ........................................................................................................................................ 28 5.8 Mercury’s Interior .............................................................................................................................................. 30 5.8.1 Core ............................................................................................................................................................ 30 5.8.2 Mantle ......................................................................................................................................................... 31 5.8.3 Crust ........................................................................................................................................................... 32 5.8.4 Exosphere ................................................................................................................................................... 34 5.8.5 Magnetosphere ...........................................................................................................................................
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