Abstract
ABSTRACT The Hokusai (H05) quadrangle is in Mercury’s northern mid-latitudes (0–90°E, 22.5–65°N) and covers almost 5 million km2, or 6.5%, of the planet’s surface. We have used data from the MESSENGER spacecraft to make the first geological map of H05. Linework was digitized at 1:400,000-scale for final presentation at 1:3,000,000-scale, mainly using a ∼166 m/pixel monochrome basemap. Three major photogeologic units of regional extent were mapped: intercrater, intermediate, and smooth plains. Materials of craters ≥ 20 km in diameter were classified according to their degradation state. Two classification schemes were employed in parallel, one with three classes and the other with five classes, for compatibility with existing MESSENGER-era quadrangle maps and the first global geologic map. This map will provide science context and targets for the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury.
Highlights
To date, Mercury has been the focus of two spacecraft missions: Mariner 10 (1974–1975; Dunne & Burgess, 1978) and MErcury, Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER; 2008– 2015; Solomon, Nittler, & Anderson, 2018)
One version is consistent with previous MESSENGER-era quadrangle geological maps of Mercury (Galluzzi et al, 2016; Guzzetta et al, 2017; Mancinelli et al, 2016)
One important difference between these quadrangle maps, including our H05 map, and the first global geological map of Mercury, which is currently being prepared for submission (Kinczyk et al, 2018), is the inclusion of an intermediate plains unit that is texturally distinct from the intercrater plains and smooth plains common among all these maps
Summary
Mercury has been the focus of two spacecraft missions: Mariner 10 (1974–1975; Dunne & Burgess, 1978) and MErcury, Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER; 2008– 2015; Solomon, Nittler, & Anderson, 2018). Following Mariner 10’s flybys, 1:5,000,000 (1:5M) scale geological maps were made of the Borealis (H01; Grolier & Boyce, 1984), Victoria (H02; McGill & King, 1983), Shakespeare (H03; Guest & Greeley, 1983), Kuiper (H06; DeHon, Scott, & Underwood, 1981), Beethoven (H07; King & Scott, 1990), Tolstoj (H08; Schaber & McCauley, 1980), Discovery (H11; Trask & Dzurisin, 1984), Michaelangelo (H12; Spudis & Prosser, 1984), and Bach (H15; Strom, Malin, & Leake, 1990) quadrangles. MESSENGER was the first spacecraft to image Mercury entirely (Solomon et al, 2018). This allowed the first global geological map of Mercury to be produced (1:15M-scale; Kinczyk et al, 2018). We present the first geological map of H05 (Main Map), which we began in October 2015
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