Composition and formation of Mercury: Constraints from future electrical conductivity measurements

Among the terrestrial planets, Mercuryʹs composition is characterized by two specific features: a high density and a low surface FeO content. Based on these two constraints, different geochemical models have been proposed, according to different formation scenarios. Here thermodynamical modeling is used to derive the mantle and crust mineralogy associated with these geochemical models. For each mineralogy, the electrical conductivity profile and associated electromagnetic data are computed. Due to the very different oxide/silicate ratios, most geochemical models proposed for Mercuryʹs formation show very different electromagnetic signatures. As a result, future measurements with MESSENGER and BepiColombo missions will help differentiating between different interior models and different formation scenarios.