Chemical heterogeneity on Mercury's surface revealed by the MESSENGER X-Ray Spectrometer

By S. Weider, L. Nittler, R. Starr, T. Mccoy, K. Stockstill-Cahill, P. Byrne, B. Denevi, James W. Head III, Sean C. Solomon. 2012

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Major-Element Abundances on the Surface of Mercury: Results from the MESSENGER Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (2012, methodology): “The weighted average for these two results is Fe/Si = 0.077 0.013.”
Mercury’s Weather-Beaten Surface: Understanding Mercury in the Context of Lunar and Asteroidal Space Weathering Studies (2014, background): “…spacecraft’s Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) and X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) during orbital operations indicate that Mercury’s surface may not be volatile depleted compared with the other terrestrial planets (Nittler et al. 2011; Peplowski et al. 2011, 2012; Evans et al. 2012; Weider et al. 2012).”
Evidence for geochemical terranes on Mercury: Global mapping of major elements with MESSENGER's X-Ray Spectrometer (2015, methodology): “It has also been proposed that a decrease in the degree of mantle partial melting as the planet cooled over time could account for the overall lower Mg content of the northern plains compared with the older surrounding ICP-HCT (Weider et al., 2012).”
The distribution and origin of smooth plains on Mercury (2013, background): “…information for HRP is for the northern plains, which have Mg/Si, Ca/Si, and Al/Si values that are consistent with a magnesian basalt-like lithology [Nittler et al., 2011; Stockstill-Cahill et al., 2012; Weider et al., 2012] with a relatively high abundance of K [Peplowski et al., 2012].”