Geochemistry, mineralogy, and petrology of boninitic and komatiitic rocks on the mercurian surface: Insights into the mercurian mantle

Orbital data from the MESSENGER mission to Mercury have facilitated a new view of the planet's structure, chemical makeup, and diverse surface, and have confirmed Mercury's status as a geochemical endmember among the terrestrial planets. In this work, the most recent results from MESSENGER's X-Ray Spectrometer, Gamma-Ray Spectrometer, and Neutron Spectrometer have been used to identify nine distinct geochemical regions on Mercury. Using a variation on the classical CIPW normative mineralogy calculation, elemental composition data is used to constrain the potential mineralogy of Mercury's surface; the calculated silicate mineralogy is dominated by plagioclase, pyroxene (both orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene), and olivine, with lesser amounts of quartz. The range in surface compositions indicate that the rocks on the surface of Mercury are diverse and vary from komatiitic to boninitic. The high abundance of alkalis on Mercury's surface results in several of the nine regions being classified as alkali-rich komatiites and/or boninites. In addition, Mercury's surface terranes span a wide range of SiO 2 values that encompass crustal compositions that are more silica-rich than geochemical terranes on the Moon, Mars, and Vesta, but the range is similar to that of Earth. Although the composition of Mercury's surface appears to be chemically evolved, the high SiO 2 content is a primitive feature and a direct result of the planet's low oxygen fugacity.