EAST TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
September 2020 Virtual Meeting
Monday,
September 14, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Note: ETGS members will receive an email with info for logging into the meeting.
SEPTEMBER PRESENTATION
Brimstone Volatiles and Hermean Hollows
By
Michael Phillips
PhD Student
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
University of Tennessee Knoxville
Abstract
On Mercury, high-reflectance, flat-floored depressions called hollows are observed nearly globally within low-reflectance material, one of Mercury's major color units. Hollows are thought to be young, or even currently active, features that form via sublimation, or a "sublimation-like" process. The apparent abundance of sulfides within LRM combined with spectral detections of sulfides associated with hollows suggests that sulfides may be the phase responsible for hollow formation. Despite the association of sulfides with hollows, it is still not clear whether sulfides are the hollow-forming phase. To better understand which phase(s) might be responsible for hollow formation, we calculated sublimation rates for 57 candidate hollow-forming volatiles phases from the surface of Mercury and as a function of depth beneath regolith lag deposits of various thicknesses. We find that stearic acid (C18H36O2), fullerenes (C60, C70), and elemental sulfur (S) have the appropriate thermophysical properties to explain hollow formation. We suggest that S is most likely the phase responsible for hollow formation based on its abundance on Mercury and its thermophysical properties. We discuss the possibility that S is the phase responsible for hollow formation within the hollow-formation model framework proposed by Belwett et al. (2013). However, several potential limitations with that model lead us to suggest an alternative hollow-formation model that involves daytime sublimation of S (and S-bearing gases) from the vicinity of fumarole systems where S and other phases accumulate at night. We call this hollow-formation model Sublimation Cycling Around Fumarole Systems, or SCArFS. We suggest that the thermal decomposition of sulfides within LRM is a main contributor to S and S-bearing gases within the proposed fumarole systems and that (re-)precipitation of sulfides may occur at the surface along hollow floors and rims.
Biography
Michael is a Dawn and Lawrence Taylor
Doctoral Research Fellow pursuing his PhD at the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville. He recently won a grant from the NASA Mars
Data Analysis Program worth over $500,000 to study the composition
of ancient martian crust. His other research interests include the
surface of Mercury and remote detection of early habitats on Mars.
Greetings, and welcome to the September 14, 2020 ETGS virtual meeting.
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Page updated September 15, 2020 |