Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Astronomers have long speculated what Mercury consists of. Now researchers have an idea what they are. Here are the minerals that Mercury is made of.
Mercury's composition is speculated to be of dense materials. This is the reason why it has survived its close proximity to the Sun for so long. The NASA probe satellite Messenger was able to get close to the planet back in 2008.
Now Geologists from the University of Liege are studying what are the minerals on the surface of Mercury are made of. The geologists did this by conducting experiments in the lab. The experiments were done in extreme conditions in order to replicate the conditions found in Mercury.
While the Messenger probe was on Mercury from 2011 to 2015 it had physico-chemical measurements of its crust. This data has been used as basis for the experiments made by Olivier Namur and Bernard Charlier of FRS-FNRS. Their experiments have been able to reproduce magma found on Mercury, according to the University of Liege's site. The researchers are said to have used a unique equipment found in Belgium for the experiments.
The experiments have shown that Mercury's crust is magmatic in origin. The crust was formed around 4.2 to 3.5 billion years ago from lava coming from Mercury's mantle. Magma activity has ceased around 3.5 billion years ago, making Mercury the first planet to have cooled down, as Phys Org reports. Its close proximity to the Sun though has kept Mercury's surface very hot.
Because magma activity ceased very early, Mercury's crust is thinner than the Earth's crust. The crust is only 500 to 600 kilometers thick, as reported by Space.com. Mercury doesn't have crustal plates like that of the Earth, which is why craters on it have remained as they are for so long.
Mercury is still being studied by many scientists, much like all the other planets are in the solar system. By studying them, scientists are getting closer to knowing more on how the solar system has been formed. Scientists now have an idea what Mercury is made of, and here are the minerals that Mercury is made of. Scientists are also knowing more about the Earth, as a jet stream has been observed in the Earth's core.
