The Role of Carbon in Exotic Crust Formation on Mercury

Abstract: The terrestrial planets that comprise our inner Solar System, including the Moon, are all rocky bodies that have differentiated into a crust, mantle, and core. Furthermore, all of these bodies have undergone various igneous processes since their time of primary crust formation. These processes have resurfaced each of these bodies, at least in part, resulting in the production of a secondary crust, to which Mercury is no exception. From its first flyby encounter with Mercury on January 14, 200…