Speaker: Ariel Deutsch da NASA-AMES
Link: meet.google.com/tid-ifhn-fc
The poles of Mercury and the Moon both show evidence for water ice, but the deposits on Mercury have a greater areal distribution and a more pure concentration. For example, ice deposits on Mercury are several meters thick, and are modeled to be ~95 wt. % pure water ice. In contrast, polar ice on the Moon appears to resemble a patchy frost that is compositionally heterogeneous. In this seminar, we will explore how these differences in purity and distribution of ice at Mercury and the Moon may be related to the ages, sources, and bombardment histories of the ice, and discuss avenues of future exploration to help address outstanding questions related to these polar volatiles.