What elements, revealed by MESSENGER, complicate the simple vaporization model for Mercury's formation?
Answer
potassium and sulfur
One early hypothesis for Mercury’s structure suggested extremely high temperatures near the young Sun, causing rocky material to vaporize and be blown away by the solar wind, leaving the heavier iron behind. However, data returned from NASA's MESSENGER mission introduced contradictory evidence. Analyses of Mercury’s surface composition detected unexpectedly high quantities of elements such as potassium and sulfur. These elements are classified as volatiles, meaning they should have been easily driven off or vaporized under the extreme heat scenarios postulated by the simple vaporization model, thus requiring scientists to look toward alternative formation scenarios.
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