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Potter 1995

Potter, A.E. (1995). Chemical sputtering could produce sodium vapor and ice on Mercury. Geophysical Research Letters 22: doi: 10.1029/95GL03181. issn: 0094-8276.

It is suggested that chemical sputtering of surface rocks by protons from the Mercury magnetosphere can yield sodium vapor more efficiently than physical sputtering, thus lowering the required sodium concentration in surface rocks. Chemical sputtering can also yield sodium vapor having a relatively low kinetic temperature, in agreement with observation. Water vapor is produced in addition to sodium vapor. It could be produced in sufficient amounts to explain the observation of ice in Mercury polar craters. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1995

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

	Abstract

Keywords
Planetology, Comets and Small Bodies, Atmospheres—composition and chemistry, Planetology, Comets and Small Bodies, Composition, Planetology, Comets and Small Bodies, Interactions with solar wind plasma and fields, Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/

Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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