Rheology of lava flows on Mercury: An analog experimental study

Abstract

We experimentally determined the rheological evolution of three basaltic analog compositions appropriate to Mercury's surface, during cooling, and crystallization. Investigated compositions are an enstatite basalt, and two magnesian basalts representing the compositional end-members of the northern volcanic plains with 0.19 wt % (NVP) and 6.26 wt % Na2O (NVP-Na). The viscosity-strain rate dependence of lava was quantified using concentric cylinder viscometry. We measured the viscosities of the crystal-free liquids from 1600°C down to the first detection of crystals. Liquidus temperatures of the three compositions studied are around 1360°C, and all three compositions are more viscous than Hawaiian basalt at the same temperature. The onset of pseudoplastic behavior was observed at crystal fractions ~0.05 to 0.10, which is consistent with previous studies on mafic lavas. We show that all lavas develop detectable yield strengths at crystal fractions around 0.20, beyond which the two-phase suspensions are better described as Herschel-Bulkley fluids. By analogy with the viscosity-strain rate conditions at which the pahoehoe to `a`a transition occurs in Kilauea basalt, this transition is predicted to occur at ~1260 ± 10°C for the enstatite basalt, at ~1285 ± 20°C for the NVP, and at ~1240 ± 40°C for the NVP-Na lavas. Our results indicate that Mercury lavas are broadly similar to terrestrial ones, which suggests that the extensive smooth lava plains of Mercury could be due to large effusion rates (flood basalts) and not to unusually fluid lavas.