Mercury is home to exotic glaciers of salt, and they may host life beneath them

[Admin]

Salt glaciers uncovered on Mercury, the second planet from the sun, could have implications for the habitability of this tiny planet and similar worlds beyond the solar system.

Mercury is home to exotic glaciers of salt, and they may host life beneath them : Read more

 

[rod]

I note from the paper cited, there are 3x references to *life* and this comment about Mercury, perhaps having life too.

"Our study underscores the significance of subsurface cryospheres in terms of their age and extent. For instance, we find that Mercury’s VRLs, extending ∼2 km in thickness near the equator (Rodriguez et al. 2020), likely formed before the LHB (>3.8 Ga). Similarly, Mars’ cryosphere, with an equatorial thickness ranging from ∼2.3–4.7 km (Clifford & Parker 2001), is probably associated with global volatile cycling ∼3.7 Ga or earlier (Clifford & Parker 2001; Rodriguez et al. 2015). The inferred extremely ancient ages of these cryospheres, aligning with the timeline of life’s emergence on Earth, coupled with their extensive spatial scales, suggests the potential for analogous evolutionary processes and biological diversification, albeit within a subsurface context. In addition, the large vertical and horizontal domains suggest that hydrothermal circulation could have enhanced the sustainability of habitable conditions by continuously supplying fresh brine and minerals (Travis et al. 2013).", ref - Mercury’s Hidden Past: Revealing a Volatile-dominated Layer through Glacier-like Features and Chaotic Terrains, The Planetary Science Journal, 4:219 (29pp), 2023 November

In 1882 Charles Darwin acknowledge there was no worthwhile evidence for life evolving from non-living matter (his 28-Feb-1882 letter) presented in his time. Now I see reports about Ceres, some moons at Jupiter, some moons at Saturn, Mars is common theme, and now Mercury as a possible place where abiogenesis takes place and creates life on Mercury (along with *biological diversification*) - perhaps. This is getting very interesting now to see if something besides the *check is in the mail* to show life somewhere in our solar system or among the exoplanets, will turn up. Presently life is confirmed on Earth.

 

[rod]

I went back and checked my home database. Apparently Venus may be a place where life evolved from non-living matter too, in the distant past. It seems we have many locations now in our solar system where life could evolve via abiogenesis.

If Venus had Earth-like plate tectonics in its distant past, did it have life too?

New research suggests the solar system's hottest planet, Venus, could have had Earth-like plate tectonics billions of years ago, opening up the possibility that this hellish once hosted life. If Venus had Earth-like plate tectonics in its distant past, did it have life too? : Read more

forums.space.com

 

[Homer10]

What is the temperature of Mercury at the North or South pole? What is the temperature of Venus at the North, or South pole? On Earth it is 80 degrees at the Equator, and -100 degrees at the poles. Maybe the temperature difference is greater on Venus, or Mercury? So, at the equator you might have 900 degrees. Maybe at the poles it's not so bad. Maybe a spece probe could last a bit longer landing there?

 

[billslugg]

Venus is covered in clouds, it is about the same temp everywhere, 800°F.
On Mercury, if you can see the Sun you are also at about 800°F. If you cannot see the Sun, you are at 350°F below zero. There is no "in between" due to no atmosphere. Same thing on the Moon, but not quite as hot.