Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 348, Issue 6237, Pages 892-895Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa8720
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Funding
- NASA Discovery Program
- MESSENGER Participating Scientist Program
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Division Of Earth Sciences
- Directorate For Geosciences [1339505] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Magnetized rocks can record the history of the magnetic field of a planet, a key constraint for understanding its evolution. From orbital vector magnetic field measurements of Mercury taken by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft at altitudes below 150 kilometers, we have detected remanent magnetization in Mercury's crust. We infer a lower bound on the average age of magnetization of 3.7 to 3.9 billion years. Our findings indicate that a global magnetic field driven by dynamo processes in the fluid outer core operated early in Mercury's history. Ancient field strengths that range from those similar to Mercury's present dipole field to Earth-like values are consistent with the magnetic field observations and with the low iron content of Mercury's crust inferred from MESSENGER elemental composition data.
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