A catalog of mercurian craters that retain their central peak or peak-ring structure was created to aid target prioritization for the Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (MIXS), now on its way to Mercury aboard BepiColombo. Preliminary analysis of the MIXS crater catalog suggested a potential spatial correlation between an abnormally high spatial density of peak-ring basins and a region of Mercury with elevated Mg/Si values (High-Magnesium Terrane [HMT]). Robust statistical analysis of previously published crater catalogs confirmed that the spatial correlation exists, with an overall confidence level of 97.7%, specifically between peak-ring basins and the HMT, delineated by a contour of Mg/Si = mean + 2σ = 0.648. Applying empirical impact cratering scaling laws to the 15 basins intersecting the HMT suggested that all have excavated material from ~13 to 20 km depth. None of the basins excavated mantle material, predicting instead that deep crustal material contains elevated Mg/Si material. However, five of the basins are predicted to have melted underlying mantle material, which might be a contributing factor in the elevated Mg/Si signature. In the absence of resolvable volcanic features associated with the rise of basaltic melts from the mantle, we favor excavation of deep crustal, high Mg/Si material. MIXS-T is capable of spatially resolving individual features associated with peak-ring basins and it is proposed that the 15 basins within the HMT are prioritized targets for MIXS, to test the hypothesis of exposed deep-crustal material.

中文翻译：

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汞上峰环盆地的分布及其与高镁/硅地体的相关性

创建了一个保留其中心峰或峰环结构的水星陨石坑目录，以帮助水星成像 X 射线光谱仪 (MIXS) 确定目标优先级，该仪现在正搭乘 BepiColombo 前往水星。对 MIXS 陨石坑目录的初步分析表明，异常高的峰环盆地空间密度与具有升高的 Mg/Si 值的水星区域（高镁地层 [HMT]）之间存在潜在的空间相关性。对先前公布的陨石坑目录的稳健统计分析证实存在空间相关性，总体置信水平为 97.7%，特别是在峰环盆地和 HMT 之间，由 Mg/Si = 平均值 + 2 σ等值线描绘 = 0.648。将经验撞击坑比例法则应用于与 HMT 相交的 15 个盆地表明，所有盆地都挖掘了约 13 至 20 公里深度的材料。没有一个盆地挖掘地幔物质，而是预测深层地壳物质含有升高的 Mg/Si 物质。然而，据预测，其中五个盆地已经熔化了下面的地幔物质，这可能是导致 Mg/Si 特征升高的一个因素。在缺乏与地幔玄武岩熔体上升相关的可解析火山特征的情况下，我们倾向于挖掘深层地壳、高镁/硅材料。MIXS-T 能够在空间上解析与峰环盆地相关的单个特征，建议将 HMT 内的 15 个盆地作为 MIXS 的优先目标，以测试暴露的深层地壳物质的假设。