New evidence for surface water ice in small‐scale cold traps and in three large craters at the north polar region of Mercury from the Mercury Laser Altimeter
Abstract
The Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) measured surface reflectance, rs, at 1064 nm. On Mercury, most water‐ice deposits have anomalously low rs values indicative of an insulating layer beneath which ice is buried. Previous detections of surface water ice (without an insulating layer) were limited to seven possible craters. Here we map rs in three additional permanently shadowed craters that host radar‐bright deposits. Each crater has a mean rs value >0.3, suggesting that water ice is exposed at the surface without an overlying insulating layer. We also identify small‐scale cold traps (<5 km in diameter) where rs >0.3 and permanent shadows have biannual maximum surface temperatures <100 K. We suggest that a substantial amount of Mercury's water ice is not confined to large craters but exists within microcold traps, within rough patches and intercrater terrain.
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Most water resources on the Moon exist on the surface in the form of a mixture of water ice and regolith.
“In light of remote sensing data and theoretical models, most of the water resources on the moon exist on the surface of the planet in the form of a mixture of water ice and regolith, similar situations also exist on Venus, 83 comets, 84 and asteroids.”
From Energy system and resource utilization in space: A state-of-the-art review (2024) · cites this paper as [83]
Similar situations of surface water ice and regolith mixture exist on Venus, comets, and asteroids.
“In light of remote sensing data and theoretical models, most of the water resources on the moon exist on the surface of the planet in the form of a mixture of water ice and regolith, similar situations also exist on Venus, 83 comets, 84 and asteroids.”
From Energy system and resource utilization in space: A state-of-the-art review (2024) · cites this paper as [83]
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- Authors
- Deutsch, A. N., Neumann, G. A., & Head, J. W.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Brown University Providence Rhode Island USA
- Corresponding author
- Deutsch, Ariel N.
- Venue
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2017-09-22
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 18
- Pages
- 9233-9241
- ISSN
- 0094-8276 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-8007
- OpenAlex
- W2756021820
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6
- FWCI
- 2.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Geophysical Research Letters (publishedVersion)
- NASA STI Repository (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX16AT19H)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › History and Developments in Astronomy
- Keywords
- mercury, permanently shadowed craters, cold trap, Mercury Laser Altimeter, surface reflectance, insulating layer, north polar region, surface temperature
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