Geological Mapping of the Derain (H-10) Quadrangle of Mercury

美国国家航空航天局信使号航天器为期四年的轨道任务于2015年4月结束。为了准备将于2017年发射的欧洲水星轨道器(比皮科伦坡)，信使号和比皮科伦坡团队正在开展一项联合工作，使用可用的最佳信使数据绘制整个水星的地质图。这些地图将为规划和解释比普科伦坡数据提供非常重要的背景信息，并将取代使用Mariner-10数据实现的1：5米的部分地图覆盖。水星被划分为15个测绘‘四边形’(包括每一极一个)，该项目的学生将负责在监督小组的指导下以1：3米的比例绘制南半球其中一个四边形的地质图。这将是66 S和极点之间的南极四边形(H-15巴赫)，或者是位于21-66 S的带中的四个四边形(H-11到H-14)之一。选择将取决于其他机构的同事已知的测绘工作。然而，每个四合院都有广泛的特征和漫长而复杂的地质历史，这使得它成为一个令人兴奋的研究区域。尽可能全面地了解水星的南半球尤其重要。信使号对这个半球的研究还不是很深入，但贝皮科伦坡将对其进行详细观察，因此南半球的测绘将为我们预期的贝皮科伦坡最新发现奠定基础。这名学生将使用信使号窄角和广角相机图像以及地形和光谱数据在ArcGIS中编制地质图，所有这些数据都将从NASA的行星数据系统(pds.nasa.gov)获得，并将与同事一起绘制相邻四边形的地图。测绘将遵循信使-比佩科伦坡联合地质测绘小组商定的美国地质调查局议定书和公约，地图将通过美国地质勘探局发布。在线数字出版促进了多层的纳入，因此(例如)这一新一代地图可以有时间地层版本(地表单位按年龄划分，如光滑平原、火山口间平原等)和更具创新性的岩石地层版本(例如，将平原细分为光谱类型)。水星的构造很复杂，因此需要仔细关注孤立和相连的断层系统。尽管这项研究的主要成果将是一张全面的四边形地图，但通过仔细检查水星的任何部分获得的深入洞察将为衍生科学提供大量机会。例如，根据学生的兴趣，这些因素可能是地貌、构造、与空间风化有关或与不稳定的过程有关。我们希望这名学生在一年一度的月球和行星科学会议(休斯顿)和欧洲行星科学会议等会议上发表研究成果，并提交论文发表在同行评议的期刊上。导师将对学生进行ArcGIS和行星地质测绘方面的培训，除此之外，还将有机会参加信使-贝皮科伦坡在欧洲和/或美国的测绘研讨会。有地球地质测绘经验者优先。

The four-year orbital mission of NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft ended in April 2015. In preparation for Europe's Mercury orbiter (BepiColombo), which will be launched in 2017, a co-ordinated effort is being mounted by the MESSENGER and BepiColombo teams to produce geological maps of the whole of Mercury using the best MESSENGER data available. The maps will provide very important contextual information for planning and interpreting BepiColombo data, and will replace the partial map coverage at 1:5M scale achieved using Mariner-10 data.Mercury is divided into 15 mapping 'quadrangles' (including one at each pole), and the student on this project will be responsible for creating a geological map of one of the southern hemisphere quadrangles under the guidance of the supervision team at 1:3M scale. This will be ether the south polar quadrangle (H-15 Bach) between 66 S and the pole, or one of the four quadrangles (H-11 to H-14) in the belt occupying 21-66 S. The choice will depend on mapping known to be already underway by colleagues at other institutions. However, every quadrangle has a wide range of features and a long and complex geological history making it an exciting region to study. It is particularly important to understand Mercury's southern hemisphere as fully as possible. This hemisphere was less-well studied by MESSENGER, but it will be observed in detail by BepiColombo and so southern hemisphere mapping will establish the context for what we expect to be BepiColombo's most novel findings.The student will compile a geological map in ArcGIS using MESSENGER narrow- and wide-angle-camera images supplemented by topographic and spectral data, all of which will be available from NASA's Planetary Data System (pds.nasa.gov), and will co-ordinate with colleagues mapping adjacent quadrangles. Mapping will follow United States Geological Survey protocols and conventions agreed among the joint MESSENGER-BepiColombo geological mapping team, and the map will be published via USGS. Online digital publication facilitates the inclusion of multiple layers, so that (for example) this new generation of maps could have a chronostratigraphic version (surface units divided by age, such as smooth plains, intercrater plains, and so on) and a more innovative lithostratigraphic version (for example subdividing plains into spectral types). Mercury is tectonically complex, and so the systems of isolated and linked faults will require careful attention.Although a thorough quadrangle map will be the main product of this study, the intimate insight gained by close examination of any part of Mercury will offer plenty of opportunities for spin-off science. These could, for example, be geomorphological, tectonic, related to space-weathering, or related to volatile processes, according to the student's interests. We would expect the student to present findings at meetings such as the annual Lunar & Planetary Science Conference (Houston) and the European Planetary Science Conference, and also to submit papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals. The supervisors will train the student in ArcGIS and planetary geological mapping, in addition to which there will be opportunities to attend MESSENGER-BepiColombo mapping workshops in Europe and/or the USA. Experience of geological mapping in Earth would be an advantage.