Conference papers
Thickness of the crust of Mercury from geoid-to-topography ratios
Abstract : From the gravity and topography fields of Mercury determined by the MESSENGER spacecraft, we calculate geoid-to-topography ratios (GTRs) as a means to constrain the average thickness of Mercury's crust. We assume Airy isostasy and exclude regions that might not satisfy this assumption, such as smooth plains and large impact basins. We limit our analysis to spherical harmonic degree n ≥ 5, since lower degrees might be affected by other processes. In the analyzed regions we find that the GTR is 20±4 m/km (1-σ). For an assumed crustal density of 2900 kg m-3, we infer an average crustal thickness of 79±20 km.
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-03581137
Contributor : Nathalie Pothier Connect in order to contact the contributor
Submitted on : Saturday, February 19, 2022 - 10:44:30 AM
Last modification on : Monday, February 21, 2022 - 3:28:13 AM
Long-term archiving on: : Friday, May 20, 2022 - 6:11:31 PM
Contributor : Nathalie Pothier Connect in order to contact the contributor
Submitted on : Saturday, February 19, 2022 - 10:44:30 AM
Last modification on : Monday, February 21, 2022 - 3:28:13 AM
Long-term archiving on: : Friday, May 20, 2022 - 6:11:31 PM
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EPSC2014-738.pdf
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