Spectral evidence for recent/ongoing activity in Mercury’s Praxiteles basin

Spectral evidence for recent/ongoing activity in Mercury’s Praxiteles basin | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Spectral evidence for recent/ongoing activity in Mercury’s Praxiteles basin Anna Galiano, Giovanni Munaretto, Deborah Domingue, Cristian Carli, and 13 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5325358/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Mercury’s surface, as revealed by the MESSENGER probe, lacks distinctive absorption features in the visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) spectral range, except hollows which display a 630-nm feature ascribed to sulfides. The general absence of spectral features makes inference of its surface mineralogical composition challenging. The Praxiteles impact basin was inspected with newly photometrically corrected MDIS data, removing the influence of topographic shading in the spectra. We detected an absorption feature at 830 nm, spectrally compatible with Fe- or FeO-bearing minerals, that is typically associated withthe edges of bright gullies and hollows but not in fully formed hollow clusters. The morphological and spectral correlations suggest the 830 nm is linked to geologically recent, or even ongoing fresh exposure of material, as well as to the early stage of hollows’ formation. These results provide insight into the subsurface composition of Mercury and imply a crust material locally more oxidized than previously thought. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Mineralogy Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Inner planets Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Geomorphology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files GalianoSupplMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5325358","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":376795260,"identity":"60a284ec-1125-42a8-8595-5807b8b35ae9","order_by":0,"name":"Anna 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